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Oregon Measure 117 to fail ranked-choice voting in early results

Oregonians appeared to reject Ballot Measure 117 in their early voting Tuesday night.

The Oregon Legislature for 2023 referred the measure to voters, asking whether they would use ranked-choice voting for the nomination and election of the President of the United States, members of Congress and the Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, etc Oregon wants to introduce labor commissioner.

Instead of voting for a single candidate, voters would rank the candidates according to their preference.

If the measure passes, every ballot cast starting in 2028 would count as one vote for the highest-ranking candidate. If a candidate received a majority of votes in this first “round,” the election would be over.

If no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the votes cast for him or her are allocated to the next highest ranked candidate. A new round would begin and counting would continue until one candidate achieved a majority.

Benton County began ranked-choice voting for county seats in 2020 with at least three candidates. Only the Benton County Commissioner race qualified. In Corvallis, the City Council approved ranked-choice voting for city council and mayoral elections in 2022. Portland voters use ranked-choice voting to elect city councilors.

Maine voters approved ranked-choice voting in 2016 and it was used for the first time in the June 2018 primary election. Alaska residents narrowly approved ranked-choice voting in 2022, but will vote Tuesday on whether to eliminate it and open primaries.

Dianne Lugo covers Oregon legislative and justice issues. Reach them at [email protected] or on Twitter @DianneLugo