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Fewer than 15% of eligible Marion County voters cast ballots ahead of May 17 primary

A ballot box in Marion County. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

Fewer than 15% of registered voters in Marion County have cast ballots four days out from the May 17 primary election.

Marion County residents have returned 31,364 ballots, or 14.4% of 218,324 total registered voters in the county according to state Elections Division data updated Friday.

In the 2020 primary, eligible voters in Marion County cast 82,006 total ballots, giving the county 39.4% voter turnout.

Among eligible voters in the county, about 21% of Democrats (13,066), 20.8% of Republicans (12,785), 4.6% of nonaffiliated (3,779), and 13.5% of Independent (1,340) have cast ballots in this year’s primary.

Polk County residents have returned 9,269 ballots, or 14.9% of 62,327 eligible voters.

In 2020, 43.5% of Polk County eligible voters cast a ballot, with 25,728 ballots returned in the May primary.

Among registered Polk County voters, about 20.3% of Democrats (3,586), 19.3% of Republicans (3,702), 6.6% of nonaffiliated (1,396), and 14.8% of Independent (475) have cast ballots in this year’s primary.

If you still need to return you ballot, you can find a list of Marion County drop boxes here and Polk County here

-Ardeshir Tabrizian