When to expect election results for Multnomah County

The big picture: Portland is using ranked choice voting for the first time to decide several high-profile races that will determine the direction of our city for the coming years.

• That also means that election results will follow a slightly different timeline than in years past.

Zoom in: The Multnomah County Elections Division will release the first round of results at 8pm Tuesday, with subsequent batches of results coming at 10pm and then 2am Wednesday.

• Results for races that use ranked choice — mayor and city council — will be released at 8pm Tuesday, with subsequent releases coming once a day after that, "no later than 6pm," according to Tim Scott, elections director for the county.
• Each update will include round-by-round tabulations of all the ballots that have been counted, visible only on the county's website, not through the secretary of state.
• Elections officials have created a sample results page for voters to get familiar with ahead of time.

What we're watching: Early ballot returns are trending lower than in the 2020 and 2016 elections, which could delay results as more ballots come in closer to the deadline, Scott told Axios.

• In most years, roughly 90% of ballots are counted by the Thursday after Election Day, but that number is harder to hit if voters procrastinate.
• Multnomah and Clackamas counties were at the bottom of the list in terms of ballot returns — with 30.8% and 26.1%, respectively — as of Friday.
• The statewide average was 38%.

What's next: On election night, head over to Axios Portland for live results from all the races we're watching.