Women from Marion and Polk County’s League of Women Voters brought dozens of cookies and oranges into the Marion County elections office this morning for election workers to enjoy.  The day before Election Day is Election Hero Day, when election workers are celebrated for their part in working for secure and safe voting. Clerk Bill Burgess stepped out of his office to greet league members, one of which was his wife, Cindy Burgess.  League members said there’s been a lot of energy about the election inside the League of Women Voters, but the energy among people they talk to hasn’t increased or changed as the election approached.   The handful of women showed excitement and interest as Burgess led them on a tour of the elections office and explained the process for a ballot to be counted.  Members of Marion and Polk County’s League of Women Voters pose behind the snacks they brought in for election workers on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Madeleine Moore/Salem Reporter) Nearing the election, there are 80 to 100 election workers in the office at a time working on different parts of processing ballots, whether it’s verifying signatures, flagging food stains or scanning torn ballots onto new ballots to be counted.  With Election Day tomorrow, the election workers are already processing the over 100,000 ballots “in house” at the clerk’s office, Burgess said.  Turnout so far remains far below 2020 levels, when 79% of Marion County voters cast a ballot. So far, the county has gotten just over 105,000 ballots back — about 46%. In 2020, there were about 148,000 ballots returned before Election Day. It’s a similar story in Polk County, which had 81% turnout in 2020, and about 43,000 ballots returned before Election Day. As of Monday morning, just 45% of ballots — about 29,000 — had been returned. Burgess said he expects another 80,000 returned ballots in Marion County for this election.  In Marion County, Burgess said, 60% of Republican voters and 55% of Democratic voters have returned their ballots. Turnout is far lower among unaffiliated voters, who are the largest share of those registered. Even with seemingly low turnout heading into Election Day, election officials said they expect voter turnout to hit around 80%, matching elections in recent years.  As Burgess walked around the election office this afternoon, two men rolled in several large boxes full of ballots from Marion County drop boxes.  “This will be a steady stream all day long,” Burgess said.  Since 2022, Oregon counts mailed-in ballots if they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive up to a week later. Previously, ballots had to be received by Election Day to count. That means the result of close local races may not be apparent for days. In 2022 in Marion County, 1,584 valid, postmarked ballots were counted after the election, according to Burgess. Polk County counted 593 that year, Clerk Kim Williams said.  If you haven’t voted, it’s not too late. Ballots should be dropped off at a drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday – here’s a list for Salem-area boxes. The clerk’s office is collecting ballots at a drive-thru drop box opposite the office, at 555 Court St. N.E. in downtown Salem until 5 p.m. Salem Reporter published a voting guide for the 2024 election with information on local state and sheriff races, Keizer and Salem races along with voting resources. Read it here.  Here’s a video from the 2020 election on how Marion County processes each ballot: Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Turnout under 50% in Marion, Polk counties as Election Day approaches appeared first on Salem Reporter.