ENTERPRISE — About 40% of the ballots mailed for the Nov. 5 election have come into the Wallowa County Clerk’s Office, Clerk Sandy Lathrop said Monday, Oct. 28.

“We’re doing really well,” she said. “But we’ve got a way to go. We’re ahead of where we were in the primary.”

Lathrop emphasized that more than a week remains until Election Day on Nov. 5, so turnout is certain to grow.

In the 2020 presidential election, turnout in Wallowa County was 87.9%, the third-highest mark in the state. (Only Wheeler and Benton counties notched higher turnout percentages.) That year, Lathrop mailed 5,932 ballots to voters.

In 2024, the number was somewhat larger: On Oct. 16, Lathrop mailed 6,388 ballots to registered voters in Wallowa County. 

She said that although the law allows her office to open the ballots, election workers can’t start counting them until Election Day when they’ll be run through the tabulation machine.

Lathrop said one thing that caused confusion among voters was a decision by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign to not include his statement in the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet.

“I’ve had probably 75-100 calls on that,” she said.

The reason why a statement from Trump’s campaign wasn’t included in the voters’ pamphlet is simple: As the Oregon Capital Chronicle has reported, Trump’s campaign declined to file a statement for the publication, which is mailed to registered voters statewide.

As the Chronicle reported, candidates aren’t required to submit statements to the pamphlet, and there’s a price for inclusion: Presidential candidates pay the top fee of $3,500. Trump’s campaign did not return phone calls from the Chronicle seeking comment.

Lathrop said voters she talked with were concerned that Trump wouldn’t be on the ballot.

“But once they got their ballots, they saw he was there,” she said.

The deadline to return ballots or to have them postmarked is 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5. Ballots that are postmarked before the deadline but arrive at election offices up to a week after Election Day are counted in the final tally. 

Ballots can be mailed or they can be returned to any of the drop-off boxes in Wallowa County. As Election Day draws closer, election officials encourage voters to use the drop-off boxes if they can instead of placing the ballots in the mail. 

In Wallowa County, drop-off boxes can be found at the following locations:

• Wallowa City Hall, 104 N. Pine St., Wallowa. This is a 24-hour outside box.

• Joseph City Hall, 201 N. Main St., Joseph. 24-hour outside box.

• Wallowa County Courthouse, 101 S. River St. The courthouse has two boxes, a 24-hour box located outside and a box inside, open 8:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.