How to make sure your vote is counted In Multnomah County

The intrigue: Portland is home to several high-profile races that will determine the direction of our city for the next few years and which party controls Congress.

State of play: There are several ways to make sure your vote is counted.

By mail: If you're mailing your ballot, it must be postmarked by 8pm Tuesday night.

• If you plan to drop it in a mailbox, make sure you do so before the pickup time for the day.
• If you're unsure, you can take it into a post office and hand it over directly.

In a ballot box: The county has dozens of places to drop your ballot directly before 8pm Tuesday night.

• The Multnomah County Elections building, at 1040 SE Morrison Street, has a walk-up slot and drive-up drop boxes on both SE 11th Avenue and SE Belmont Street.
• The Gresham Voting Center Express, at 600 NE 8th Street in Gresham, has a drop box inside the building and will be open until 8pm Tuesday night.

• The county also has many 24-hour drop boxes sprinkled around the metro area, all noted on this handy interactive map.

After you cast your ballot, the county has a tool that will notify you once it has been accepted.

What's next: It's likely we won't know all the results Tuesday night, especially in local races using ranked-choice voting for the first time.

We'll be tracking all the most important races, with live results for local and federal races, Tuesday night and throughout the week.