Eugene Voters: Drop Boxes Close at 8 p.m. Tuesday — Here Is How to Make Your Ballot Count
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Eugene Track Town News opens with the only deadline that matters tonight: a signed ballot in an official drop box by 8 p.m. Pacific, or a ballot postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 10.
Eugene Track Town News launches tonight with the most time-sensitive story in Lane County: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, and Oregon votes by mail. There are no neighborhood polling places to rush to at the last minute in the familiar sense. Your ballot is the paper one that arrived by mail, and the finish line is a county drop box, a post office counter, or the Lane County Elections office — reached on time, with your signature on the return envelope.
The rules are simple and strict. Ballots must be in an official drop box by 8 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Or they must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received within seven days, by Nov. 10. Sign the return envelope before you return it: counties verify signatures, and an unsigned envelope is the most avoidable problem a voter can create on the last night of an election.
Officials urge voters to use drop boxes over the mail this late in the cycle. A drop box takes the postal timeline out of the equation entirely — no transit time, no postmark question, just a ballot in county hands before the 8 p.m. close. If you must mail your ballot near the deadline, take it to a post office counter and ask for a hand postmark, so the Nov. 3 date is applied clearly and by a person standing in front of you.
If your ballot never arrived, was damaged, or was marked by mistake, a replacement ballot comes from the county elections office — for Eugene voters, that is Lane County Elections. Do not improvise with a photocopy or a printout. Contact the county office, explain the problem, and follow its replacement process so the ballot you return is the one the county can count.
Voters are deciding far more than one race on Tuesday: governor, a U.S. Senate seat, Congress, the state legislature and local races are all on the ballot. After you return yours, you can check its status through Oregon's My Vote tool. Tonight, our newsroom's advice is unglamorous and absolute: sign the envelope, choose a drop box, and beat the 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline with time to spare.
