Low voter turnout thus far for Midterm election on Nov. 8

By Tom Peterson

Wasco and Hood River counties are reporting low voter turnout for the general election thus far in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, Midterm election.

The numbers are lagging behind return numbers posted in 2020 and 2018, according to Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee.

At the end of Monday, Oct. 31, Wasco County is at 22.01% turnout with 4109 ballots received, Gambee said in a recent email.

Here are the comparisons for the same day in 2020 and 2018:

• 2020 - 45.92% turnout and 8345 ballots

• 2018 - 25.35% and 4326 ballots

These are comparisons of days that fall on the same number of days prior to the election, Gambee said.

At the end of the day on Oct. 31 in Hood River County, 23.63% of voters had returned 3,823 ballots, according to Brian Beebe with the Department of Records and Assessment.

For comparison, In the 2018 Midterm General Election in Hood River, 28.38% of voters had returned 4,598 ballots.

So what does it mean?

For more information on who is looking to gain in this year’s election, read Dirk VanderHart’s story on OPB here.