Deschutes County prepares for November election as local candidate field is finalized

BEND, Ore. — The local candidate field is set, and preparations are underway in Deschutes County for the November general election.

Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison says the slate of local candidates was finalized Tuesday afternoon, marking another step in the process of preparing ballots for voters this fall.

“Everything as of Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. became finalized,” Dennison said. “And now we have our full slate of local candidates that will be on the ballot in November.”

But finalizing the local candidates is only one part of the process.

Dennison says county election officials are still waiting for final information on state and federal races. Once all of those pieces are in place, election staff can begin putting together the different ballots needed for voters across Deschutes County.

“The ballot content is, again, final locally,” Dennison said. “We’re waiting to hear from the state who those federal and state position candidates are. Once we have all those pieces together, we can start piecing together our ballots for district distribution.”

For voters, now is a good time to make sure voter registration information is current, including the address where a ballot should be mailed.

The deadline to register to vote in Oregon’s 2026 general election is Oct. 13.

Ballots begin being mailed to voters Oct. 14.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Watch the video above for Lance Campbell’s from KTVZ NEWS deeper look at how Deschutes County is preparing for November and what voters should know before Election Day.