Posted on Jan 26, 2022
Supporters of ranked choice voting in Oregon file petitions to implement it statewide
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Supporters of a voting method that allows people to rank candidates in order of preference want to give Oregonians the chance to use the method in statewide elections.
It’s called “ranked choice voting.” In Oregon, it’s been used on a limited basis in Benton County. It’s used statewide in Maine and in some American cities.
Supporters of the method in Oregon have filed a pair of initiatives aimed at putting the question before voters this fall. The two initiatives are similar. Co-petitioner Blair Bobier of Corvallis said the only difference is that one of them would include the presidential election in ranked choice voting, and the other would not.
Otherwise, the ranked choice method would be used in all Oregon elections for members of Congress, as well as all statewide positions including governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and labor commissioner.
Supporters of ranked choice voting say it allows voters to have a greater say in election outcomes. If no single candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the initial count, then the candidate with the least support gets removed from consideration. Then, elections officials consider the second choice candidate on the ballots of people who voted for the person who was eliminated.
It’s called “ranked choice voting.” In Oregon, it’s been used on a limited basis in Benton County. It’s used statewide in Maine and in some American cities.
Supporters of the method in Oregon have filed a pair of initiatives aimed at putting the question before voters this fall. The two initiatives are similar. Co-petitioner Blair Bobier of Corvallis said the only difference is that one of them would include the presidential election in ranked choice voting, and the other would not.
Otherwise, the ranked choice method would be used in all Oregon elections for members of Congress, as well as all statewide positions including governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and labor commissioner.
Supporters of ranked choice voting say it allows voters to have a greater say in election outcomes. If no single candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the initial count, then the candidate with the least support gets removed from consideration. Then, elections officials consider the second choice candidate on the ballots of people who voted for the person who was eliminated.
Supporters of ranked choice voting in Oregon file petitions to implement it statewide
Posted from opb.org
Voting
Elections
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
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Interesting, but I'm not in favor of giving elections officials that much power. Will they truly represent the will of the people? What is to keep them from selecting their own choice?
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SrA John Monette
SFC Thomas Foreman - Maybe I read it wrong. I understood the article to say that the board of elections has the final say.
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SrA John Monette I didn’t see a reference to the board of elections. It’s still direct voting, just a different method of arriving at the winner. It’ll make the candidates work harder to appeal to more voters
SrA John Monette
SFC Thomas Foreman - Fourth paragraph.
Supporters of ranked choice voting say it allows voters to have a greater say in election outcomes. If no single candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the initial count, then the candidate with the least support gets removed from consideration. Then, elections officials consider the second choice candidate on the ballots of people who voted for the person who was eliminated.
Supporters of ranked choice voting say it allows voters to have a greater say in election outcomes. If no single candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the initial count, then the candidate with the least support gets removed from consideration. Then, elections officials consider the second choice candidate on the ballots of people who voted for the person who was eliminated.
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SrA John Monette this gets confusing, but stay with me
Say there are 5 candidates and none of them get named first choice by 50% of the voters. Then the candidate with the lowest number of first choice votes is removed from the ballot, and everyone who voted that person first choice has their second place votes awarded as first place votes and so on until someone has 50% first place votes. The board has no discretion to pick winners, the word “consider” is poorly used there.
It’s just a system that if no one gets 50%, the lowest candidate is successively eliminated until someone ends up being named as a higher choice on over half the ballots cast
Say there are 5 candidates and none of them get named first choice by 50% of the voters. Then the candidate with the lowest number of first choice votes is removed from the ballot, and everyone who voted that person first choice has their second place votes awarded as first place votes and so on until someone has 50% first place votes. The board has no discretion to pick winners, the word “consider” is poorly used there.
It’s just a system that if no one gets 50%, the lowest candidate is successively eliminated until someone ends up being named as a higher choice on over half the ballots cast
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We'd certainly weed out many of the more radical candidates with ranked choice voting.
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SPC Kevin Ford
SrA John Monette - In general it's going to lead to a whole heck of a lot of people thinking, well he wasn't my first choice but at least it wasn't that turkey that I absolutely hate.
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SrA John Monette
SPC Kevin Ford - Thus hopefully not splitting the vote because 3rd party candidates rarely get a fighting chance.
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I’m all for ranked choice. I’ve read some interacting ideas in conjunction with it about Congressional representation I.e. multiple reps, elected via ranked choice, representing the same district albeit a much larger district than we might have now. Gets really interesting when you think about it…
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