Top exercise of 2020: running to the polls

The last day to mail in your 2020 general election ballot in Multnomah County was Oct. 27. Ballots mailed after this day might not be counted. Registered voters in Multnomah County should have received their mail-in ballots by Oct. 20. If you or someone you know registered to vote by Oct. 13 in Multnomah County and have not received a ballot, contact the Multnomah County Elections Office at  (503)-988-8683. Fortunately for our late voters, there are routes you can run from Palatine Hill to official voting drop sites.

Students and staff located near Lewis & Clark have a couple of options. Your closest official voting drop site is located at A-Boy Electric & Plumbing, which can be reached by heading north from campus on Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard. The nice downhill route is 2.2 miles one-way. This is a fantastic opportunity to warm yourself up with a relaxed low- incline jog down before trekking back uphill. No one said exercise and exercising your right to vote had to be exclusive. 

If you want more of a challenge or want to end up near a Salt & Straw, the Lake Oswego City Hall is 3.2 miles away from the LC campus. You run part of this route through the Tryon Creek trails. Voters will enter the natural area near the LC law campus and make their way to the Iron Mountain Bridge and exit at the Iron Mountain Trail Head. They will continue south down South Terwilliger Boulevard, merge right onto North State Street and, finally, turn right on to A Avenue. This is an ideal route if you want great trail running or want to knock out a 10k. 

There are voters who do not have the time or energy to commit to a long run and do not have a car or bike to get to these places easily. The Pioneer Express actually has three stops that are all closer to an official ballot drop site than LC. The Fred Meyer stop is 0.4 miles from A-Boy, the Shattuck Hall stop is 0.7 miles from the Multnomah County Central Library and the Zupan’s Market stop is 1.8 miles from the Hillsdale Library. 

Once your ballot is placed at an official drop site voters can track their ballot at oregonvotes.gov/myvote. All questions regarding how to vote should be available in your ballot packet. All official Oregon ballot drop-off sites are open 24/7 and can be located online from the Oregon Secretary of State website. The deadline to drop your ballot off at an official site is 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, Election Day. Do not forget to bundle up and stretch before and after running to drop off your ballot.