Measure No. 117 - Ranked-Choice Voting for Federal and State Elections Measure

Summary

Current state law requires voters to select only one candidate for each office on the ballot. The candidate with the most votes after a single vote tally wins, even if not a majority. This measure gives voters the option to rank candidates in order of preference using "ranked choice voting." Under the measure, voters may choose to rank only one candidate or multiple candidates for each office, as well as write in candidate(s). Votes are counted toward each voter's highest-ranked candidate. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, votes are tallied automatically in rounds. The candidate receiving the fewest votes in each round is defeated. A defeated candidate's votes go to the voter's next highest-ranked candidate. The process continues until one candidate has a majority of votes. The measure applies to the nomination and election of President, United States Senator, Representative in Congress, Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Attorney General, and election of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The measure requires the Secretary of State to establish a program to educate voters about how ranked choice voting elections will be conducted. Authorizes local governments to adopt ranked choice voting for elections for local offices. Local governments that adopted ranked choice voting before 2025 may continue to use current method or modify it. The measure applies to elections beginning in 2028.

A "Yes" vote gives voters the option to rank candidates in order of preference for specified federal and statewide offices. Establishes process for tallying votes in rounds, with the candidate receiving the fewest votes in each round being defeated and votes for the defeated candidate going to the voter's next-highest ranked active candidate. Requires that candidate must receive majority of votes to win election.

A "No" vote maintains current voting system. Voter selects one candidate for federal and statewide offices. Candidate with most votes wins. Majority of votes not required for candidate to win election.

Arguments

"By giving more candidates a realistic choice to win, Oregonians will not be worrying about 'wasting their vote.' Ranked choice ensures that candidates have broad support in contested races. Because candidates are encouraged to seek not only first-choice votes, but second- and third- choice votes, they are incentivized to engage with voters across racial, ethnic, gender, and ideological spectrums. Ranked choice voting leads to better representation for all Oregonians." - Andrea Haverkamp, Organizer for the American Federation of Teachers - OR, in support of Measure No. 117 (Learn more)

"RCV ignores most voters' rankings, so it can eliminate a candidate who was actually preferred overall. This happened in the 2022 Alaska Special Election, where despite claims that the problem had been solved, the election was spoiled by Sarah Palin, flipping the seat blue rather than electing the moderate Republican who was preferred over all others according to the ballots cast. For Palin voters, ranking her 1st choice actually backfired and ironically helped elect their last choice instead. In Oregon a similar spoiler effect scenario could easily flip a seat from Blue to Red." - Sara Wolk, Executive Director for Equal Vote Coalition, in opposition to Measure No. 117 (Learn more)

"RCV makes for a more complicated primary. Reconciling RCV between multiple counties is complicated and will remove final tallying from county election officials. The difficult task placed on Election Officials seeking to reconcile the number of ballots accepted and tallied when multiple ballot pages/sheets are sent to each voter (many voters only return the ballot pages with the contests that are of interest to them). There are substantial costs involved with implementing RCV." - Oregon Association of County Clerks, in opposition to Measure No. 117 (Learn more)

"Ranked choice voting helps alleviate voters' concerns that they must consider how others vote before casting their own ballot. RCV grants voters greater power to express their preferences and vote for candidates whose values they most share. Allowing voters to rank candidates encourages more participation in voting and means that their vote becomes more meaningful and impactful. Ultimately, this leads to outcomes that voters are more satisfied with." - Emily Hawley, Sr. Policy Associate for the ACLU of OR, in support of Measure No. 117 (Learn more)

Measure Details