Oregon Public Broadcasting

This year’s Presidential election may be historic, but that hasn’t set off a rush to cast votes in Oregon.  Ballot box returns are lagging behind the Presidential election four years ago.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

As of Friday morning, just 43 percent of Oregon voters had returned their ballots.  That’s less than at a similar point in both the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections.  

It could be that voters are simply waiting longer to return their ballots this year.  

So far Democrats are voting at a faster rate than Republicans.  Nearly half of all registered Democrats have cast a ballot, compared to 41 percent of registered Republicans. 

That could spell trouble for Republican candidates such as Senator Gordon Smith.  He and Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley are making last-minute pitches to voters this weekend. 

By the way, if you haven’t put your ballot in the mail yet, you might want to drop it off in person.  Ballots are due Tuesday evening at 8.