This story will be updated at 8 p.m. with the initial election results.
The 2023 Oregon Legislature referred Ballot Measure 117 to voters asking whether they want to adopt ranked-choice voting for the nomination and election of the president of the United States, members of Congress, and Oregon’s governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, and labor commissioner.
Instead of voting for a single candidate, voters would rank candidates in order of preference.
If the measure is approved, every ballot cast starting in 2028 would count as one vote for the candidate ranked highest. If a candidate earned the majority of votes in that initial “round,” the election would be over.
If no candidate earned more than 50% of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated and votes that had been cast for them would be allocated to the next highest-ranked candidate. A new round would begin and counting would continue until one candidate earned a majority.
Benton County began using ranked-choice voting in 2020 for county seats with a minimum of three candidates. Only the Benton County Commissioner race qualified. In Corvallis, the City Council in 2022 approved ranked-choice voting for City Council and mayoral races. Portland voters are using ranked-choice voting to elect city councilors.