Election 2022: What's the voter turnout so far in Marion, Polk counties?

With only a few days before Election Day, tens of thousands of ballots are filtering through drop boxes and the mail in Marion and Polk counties.

As of Wednesday, the Marion County Clerk's Office had scanned 54,171 ballot return envelopes.

Although the number is only slightly higher than the number of ballots scanned the Wednesday before the last mid-term Election Day in 2018, election officials are anticipating a higher voter turnout this year.

"We ended up with 65.56% turnout in 2018," Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess said. "We anticipate 70% to 75% turnout this election due to high public interest."

2022 Oregon November general election:Learn more about the candidates and measures on your ballot

There are 220,329 eligible voters in Marion County, an increase of almost 20,000 from 2018. By Wednesday, 24.57% of those voters had turned in a ballot.

Midterm elections typically see fewer people voting than in presidential election years. In November 2020, Marion County reported a 78.94% turnout.

Voters who have already returned their ballot can check its status on the Oregon Secretary of State's Office website at sos.oregon.gov. Click on the My Vote tracker.

Burgess said anyone who has not yet received their ballot needs to get a replacement from Marion County Clerk's Office immediately.

"After today, they need to come in person to our office because it will be too late for us to mail them a ballot," he said.

More:Thousands of valid Oregon ballots counted after Election Day under new law

In Polk County, 16,383 ballots have been accepted. Polk County Clerk said the turnout was 26%. Four years ago, it was 27.2% at this stage.

In the past, ballots needed to arrive at county elections offices by 8 p.m. on election day to be counted. But in 2022, following a new law passed by the Oregon State Legislature, ballots simply need to be postmarked by election day. Ballots received up to seven days after election day will be considered valid.

Results will be released shortly after 8 p.m. Nov. 8.

During the May primary, elections officials cautioned that vote counts would likely rise more after election day than in past years due to valid ballots arriving at counting locations up to seven days after the election.

Some races remained too close to call until the final ballots were counted.

In the primary election earlier this year, Marion County's elections office received 3,809 ballots after May 17, while Polk County received 1,300 ballots.

Here are available ballot drop-off locations:

Salem and Keizer (Marion County)

Marion County Clerk: 555 Court St. NE, Ste 2130, open 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon-Fri.

Marion County Health: 3180 Center St. NE, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Marion County Public Works: 5155 Silverton Road NE, Salem, inside during business hours.

Roth’s Fresh Market Hayesville: 4746 Portland Road NE, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

Roth’s Fresh Market, Vista: 3045 Commercial St. SE, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

Roth’s Fresh Market Sunnyslope: 4555 Liberty Road S, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

Keizer City Hall: 930 Chemawa Road NE, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Marion County: South and east

Aumsville City Hall: 595 Main St., curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Jefferson Public Library: 150 N. 2nd St., curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Stayton Public Library: 515 N. First St., curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Sublimity City Hall: 245 NW Johnson St., curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Turner City Hall: 5255 Chicago St SE, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Marion County: North and central

Donald City Hall: 10710 Main St., curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Gervais City Hall: 592 Fourth St., Gervais, inside during business hours.

Hubbard City Hall: 3720 2nd St, Hubbard, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Mt. Angel Public Library: 290 E. Charles St., Mt. Angel, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Silverton: 208 Lewis St. and  South First St., Silverton, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Woodburn Public Library: 280 Garfield St., Woodburn, curbside dropbox, open 24 hours.

Polk County

Polk County Clerk's Office: 850 Main St., Dallas, 24-hour drop site on east side of Polk County Courthouse.

Fall's City Market, Falls City: 319 N. Main St., 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. Mon-Fri, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Independence City Hall: 555 S. Main St., 24-hour dropbox inside front lobby.

Roth's Fresh Market (Monmouth): 1517 Monmouth Independence Highway, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

Roth's Fresh Market (West Salem): 1130 Wallace Road NW, 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde: 9615 Grand Ronde Road, dropbox outside, open 24 hours.

Western Oregon University, inside Werner University Center, Monmouth: 345 N. Monmouth Ave., 7:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. Mon-Thurs, 7:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: What's the voter turnout in Marion, Polk counties?