Oregon voters will decide next year whether to implement ranked-choice voting for all state and federal elections, under a new law enacted by the Legislature.
That extentPassed Sunday by state Democrats in one of their final actions of the 2023 session, it will give voters the last word, on the November 2024 ballot, on whether future state and federal elections in Oregon should go ahead. with the increasingly popular electoral model.
A host of states, cities and counties have adopted the model in recent years, though Oregon is the first state where the Legislature approved sending the question to voters.
In ranked choice elections, voters identify their top choices on their ballots and then rank the other candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes in the first count, the election proceeds to an instant runoff. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the ballots cast for that candidate are recast for voters’ second choices. The process is repeated until one candidate reaches a majority.
Proponents of ranked-choice voting have long said the setup benefits moderate candidates who don’t play on the fringes of either party and work to appeal to the largest number of people. They have also said that the model helps attract voters rejected by the two-party system and limits negative campaigns by candidates.
If Oregon voters approve implementation of ranked-choice voting in 2024, it would take effect beginning in 2028 for primary and general elections in the state for races that include Oregon president, Congress, governor, and secretary of state . The measure would also allow cities and counties to choose to use the system in their local elections.
A handful of cities and counties in Oregon (Corvallis and Benton County, for example) already use ranked-choice voting for local elections, while Portland, the state’s largest city, has decided to use the model for elections. for mayor and municipal council starting next year. .
Oregon is the latest state to promote the model amid a growing national movement to encourage its use. If voters approve the measure, it would become the third state to use the model for federal and state elections.
Last year, Alaska became the second state to use ranked-choice voting in state and federal elections. Maine has used the system in state and federal elections since 2018. Both Alaska and Maine adopted ranked-choice voting as a result of citizen-led ballot measures proposing the model. Oregon is the first state to refer the decision to voters through the legislative process.
“Frankly, the way that ranked-choice voting has taken off in Oregon is amazing,” said Blair Bobier, co-founder of Oregon Ranked Choice Voting Advocates.
The growth in the use of ranked-choice voting in local elections has been more explosive.
By 2022, voters in eight other jurisdictions ballot measures approved adopting it. That included Nevada, where voters approved a citizen-driven constitutional amendment to institute Ranked-Choice Voting in All State General Elections except the presidential election. Under Nevada law, the measure must be passed again in 2024 to take effect.
In total, the number of cities and towns that switched to ranked-choice voting has grown to over 50according to FairVote, a national nonpartisan group that has worked for decades to promote the use of ranked-choice voting in the US.
