Party labels in Oregon school board elections
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| Oregon overview: • Election dates: Off cycle |
| Key policies: • Election dates and timing • Party labels on the ballot |
| Key terms • On-cycle elections • Off-cycle elections • Off-year elections • Off-date elections • Party labels • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections |
School board elections in Oregon are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.335
There were 196 public school districts in Oregon with a total of 1,129 school board member seats as of 2023. Those school districts operated a total of 1,245 schools serving 581,512 students.
Oregon is one of 41 states with state laws providing for nonpartisan school board elections.
The information in this page was last updated in 2023. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org with any updates, corrections, exceptions, or improvements.
Oregon state law governing party labels on the ballot for school board elections
School board elections in Oregon are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Statute governing nonpartisan elections governs the election procedures for school district board member elections and prohibits the inclusion of any information or designations on the ballot other than the names of the candidates.
See law: Oregon Statutes Section 255.335
Examples of how school board candidates appear on the ballot in Oregon
Below are excerpts from an odd-year sample ballot with nonpartisan races, including school board races, and from an even-year sample ballot containing both partisan and nonpartisan races.
How does Oregon compare to other states?
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.
Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.
The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).
State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):
State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:
See also
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
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Footnotes
