Oregon’s Attempt to Introduce Ranked-Choice Voting With Measure 117 Takes a Dive at the Polls

Ranked-choice voting dived the polls despite the strong support of Tribal leaders who believed Measure 117 to be fairer and more equitable.

The final tally was 59.6% to 40.4%.

Voters Would Have Ranked Candidates in Order of Preference

Measure 117 would have allowed voters to rank their candidates in order of preference at federal and state levels. It would have come into operation in the 2028 elections for President, Congress, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and Labor Commissioner.

Measure 117 supporters believed that Ranked-Choice Voting would encourage a more diverse number of candidates from different backgrounds to enter elections, giving minority groups a better chance at representation.

See also: Oregon Measure 117 Will Increase Native Representation in Elected Office

The measure was supported by several Oregon labor, civil rights, and civic engagement groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Urban League of Portland, and the League of Women Voters.

Millions of Dollars Were Poured into the Campaign

Millions of dollars poured in to support the campaign, helping the political action committee support the measure to raise $9.4 million, the bulk of it from nonprofits out-of-state.

Opponents of Measure 117 argued that ranked-choice voting would open elections to more voter mistakes, an opinion heavily supported by a group of county clerks who formed an action committee to raise concerns.

The clerks argued that Measure 117 would cost millions to implement and add significantly to their workload. County clerks were also upset because they had not been consulted about the measure.

Ranked-choice voting would have ranked candidates on ballots in order of preference. If candidates failed to receive more than 50% of the first-place votes, then the candidate with the least number of votes would be eliminated.

The votes that eliminated candidates received would then be distributed among the remaining candidates, based on subsequent voter preferences. This process would be repeated until arriving at one candidate with the most votes.