Election information
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Learn more about elections for Metro Council positions and the Metro Auditor.
The Metro Council is the only directly elected regional government in the United States. There are six Metro Councilors elected from individual districts along with the Council President who is elected region-wide.
Learn more about the Metro Council
In addition, the Metro Auditor is also elected region-wide. The Metro Auditor serves independently from the Metro Council and is responsible for conducting performance audits of Metro’s programs and providing oversight of Metro’s annual financial statements.
Learn more about the Metro Auditor
Each Metro Councilor, the Council President, and the Metro Auditor is elected to serve a four-year term. Elections for Metro offices are non-partisan and held concurrently with the Oregon statewide primary election in May of even-numbered years. If, in a given May election, no candidate for a Metro office receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the election for that office, the two candidates for that office with the highest numbers of votes will advance to a run-off election held concurrently with the Oregon statewide general election the following November.
Metro Councilors may not be elected to more than three consecutive full terms. The Metro Council President may not be elected to more than two consecutive full terms. There are no term limits for the Metro Auditor.
Qualifications for office
Chapter V, Section 19 of the Metro Charter requires that a candidate for the position of Metro Councilor “shall be a qualified elector under the constitution of this state when his or her term of office begins and shall have resided during the preceding 12 months in the district from which elected or appointed.”
The Metro Charter also requires that a candidate for Metro Council President or Metro Auditor, “shall each be a qualified elector under the constitution of this state when his or her term of office begins and shall have resided during the preceding 12 months within the boundaries of Metro as they exist when the term of office begins.” The Metro Charter also requires that the Metro Auditor “hold the designation of certified public accountant or certified internal auditor.”
The Metro Charter also states that, “A Metro elected officer may not be an elected officer of the state, or a city, county or special district during his or her term of office. As used in this charter, special district does not include school districts.”
Learn more about the Metro Charter
Candidate filing information
Anyone seeking election to a Metro office must file their candidate forms with the Multnomah County Elections Division.
Visit the Multnomah County Elections Division website
For the May 2012 election: Metro Council positions for Districts 3, 5 and 6 will be on the ballot for four-year terms at the election to be held on May 15, 2012. Candidates for those offices must live within the newly drawn district boundaries approved by the Metro Council in May 2011 and meet all other requirements established in the Metro Charter. The deadline for candidate filings with the Multnomah County Elections Division is 5 p.m. on March 6, 2012.
Learn more about the new Metro Council district boundaries
The next elections for the offices of Metro Council President, Metro Auditor, and Metro Councilor for Districts 1, 2 and 4 will take place in 2014.
All candidates for Metro offices who plan to receive or spend more than $750 in their campaigns in a calendar year must establish their campaign committees with the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s office and report their campaign contributions and expenditures in accordance with Oregon law. Metro Code Chapter 2.18 provides additional campaign finance reporting requirements for Metro candidates. In the interest of greater transparency, Metro provides direct access to the campaign finance reports of each current Metro elected official and candidates for these offices.
Visit the Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division website
Download a copy of Metro Code Chapter 2.18 relating to campaign finance regulation (2 pages)
Learn more about the campaign finance activities of current Metro elected officials and candidates
Salaries of Metro elected officials
The Metro Charter establishes the salaries of Metro’s elected officials in relation to the salary of a circuit court judge in Oregon, which is determined by the Oregon Legislature. A Metro Councilor earns one-third the salary of an Oregon circuit court judge. The Metro Auditor earns 80 percent of the salary of an Oregon circuit court judge, and the Metro Council President earns a full circuit court judge’s salary.
As of July 1, 2008, Metro Councilors earn an annual salary of $38,156, the Metro Auditor’s annual salary is $91,574 and the Metro Council President earns $114,468 annually.