We just finished off the 2024 election cycle, and while some things have overshadowed others and have been the focus of many a family discussion, ranked choice voting has likely not been a big focus for people. Ranked choice voting is the process by which instead of each person voting for one candidate, they rank six candidates, from their favorite to their least favorite. This process gives voters more of a choice as to who their votes go to, and gives candidates with a smaller following a choice. This election less people voted for mayor in Portland, from last election, a drop from 361,683 in 2020 to 302,173 votes in 2024, that is a 16% decrease in turnout in the election, which is hard to attribute solely to ranked choice voting being the primary sense of voting as there are a variety of other factors that can contribute to other people not having a desire to vote. Not only did the broader Portland area vote ranked choice for the first time, after voting to approve it in 2020, but the whole state had the chance to vote on whether or not they wanted to move to ranked choice voting. As a state the measure did not pass, with 57% voting no. Overall though Multnomah County did vote yes, highlighting how people in Portland feel about ranked choice voting. Despite this failure for ranked choice voting, Multnomah County will start using ranked choice voting in 2026. Ranked choice voting is a very stark turn for many people, and some individuals that were in charge of counting and managing voting were advocating that this would be too much to manage.
For a lot of young people this was their first time voting. When a first time voter was asked if they liked voting ranked choice or non ranked choice better they said that they were not Certain, and that the process of regular voting was a lot simpler, but that they appreciated the nuance of ranked choice voting despite the time it consumes. This is a struggle that many have found is the time. Another more experienced voter thought that it was very interesting and it didn’t take them more time because they had done prior research. Additionally ranked choice voting encourages more candidates to run, which is good for democracy but does lead to longer voting processes. Although the voter turnout was a success, the ranked choice voting will continue for future Multnomah County and Portland elections.
