ENTERPRISE — The ballot count in Walliowa County was up to 58.11% as of late Friday, Nov. 1, but many more were expected early this week, said Sandy Lathrop, county clerk.

“We have a lot more to go,” she said Monday, with two days’ worth of ballots to be counted before Election Day on Tuesday.

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.

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.

Statewide turnout as of Monday was 46.6%, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.

Ballots can be mailed or they can be returned to any of the drop-off boxes in Wallowa County.

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.

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:

• 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.