Turnout Appears Low Ahead of November Election [View all]

High-profile elections are appearing on ballots across the U.S. this November, but just one measure is being weighed by most Portland voters: a proposal to increase a five-year property tax levy to fund parks from 80 cents to $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Tim Scott, the elections director for Multnomah County, says the single-issue ballot doesn’t appear to be bringing in many voters. The county reported 102,038 total ballots received through Monday so far, a 21.99% turnout.

That’s a low figure that Scott doesn’t anticipate will increase by much—and he’s not expecting that it will hit the county’s optimistic projection of 35% turnout for the election. While more people tend to drop off ballots in the days before the election, Scott says the big spike doesn’t seem to be coming.

“It doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case because we sent our drivers out to the ballot boxes this morning and there wasn’t a whole lot more there this Monday than there was last Monday,” he says.



https://www.wweek.com/news/county/2025/11/03/turnout-appears-low-ahead-of-november-election/