With Multnomah County Ballot Returns Sluggish, Democrats Try to Rustle up Voters

As of 1:45 pm Nov. 8, less than 48% of Multnomah County’s registered voters had turned in their ballots.

Tina Kotek campaigns on Election Day. (Tim Saputo)
By Aaron Mesh and Tim Saputo

Election Day saw Portland progressives anxiously eyeing sluggish voter turnout numbers and hoping they were a sign of procrastination rather than apathy.

As of 1:45 pm Nov. 8, less than 48% of Multnomah County’s registered voters had turned in their ballots—a number that needed to dramatically rise for Tina Kotek and her Democratic Party backers to retain control of Oregon.

So the final hours of the election saw Kotek and company hitting the streets to encourage laggards.

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