Skeet Arasmith – 2024
Oregon HB2004 places Rank Choice Voting (RCV) as a measure on the Oregon General Election ballot in November 2024. If passed it will not go into effect until 2028. If adopted it would require RCV to be used for the nomination of major political parties for; President of the US, US Senators and Representatives, Oregon Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Attorney General. It will also be used in the General election for the election of the President and Vice President of the United States as well as Oregon Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General and Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. Counties, cities and special districts may use RCV.
Overview – This system can only be explained when there are three or more choices. Each voter is required to rank the items or candidates in order of their choice. That is, what is their first choice, second choice, third choice, etc.. The winner must receive 50% of the vote.
1st Example – In this example, there are three choices on the ballot; beef, pork and chicken. Select your first, second and third choice.
| Meal Choice | 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beef | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pork | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chicken | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scenario #1 – There were 100 ballots cast; 45 for beef, 35 for pork and 20 for chicken. There was no winner. The choice with the fewest votes is eliminated and the second choice from those votes (in this case 20 chicken votes) is given to the other two choices. Six (6) of the voters for chicken selected beef as their second choice and 14 selected pork. These are added to the votes from the first round. The results; beef has 51 votes (45+6=51), and pork as 49 votes (35+14= 49). Beef is the winner.
Scenario #2 – Three choices on the ballot; beef, pork and chicken. 100 votes were cast. Beef received 45 votes, pork 35 votes and chicken 20 votes. As in the first example, chicken is eliminated and the second choice of those who voted for chicken is given to the beef and pork. In this case the second choice of those who voted for chicken were; 4 for beef and 16 for pork. When those are added to the results from the first round the results are 49 for beef and 51 for pork. Thus, pork is the winer, even though it did not receive the most first choice votes.
Scenario #3 – Three choices on the ballot; beef, pork and chicken. 100 votes were cast. Beef received 45 votes, pork 35 votes and chicken 20 votes. Chicken is eliminated and the second choice of those who voted for chicken are given to the beef and pork. In this case the second choice of those who voted for chicken were; 2 for beef and 10 for pork. The other eight did not have a second or third choice. Their ballots are said to be exhausted. The results are beef with 47 votes and pork with 45 votes. There is no winner.
2nd Example – four choices on the ballot; beef, pork, chicken or vegetarian.
Scenario #1 – There were 100 ballots cast; 35 for beef, 30 for pork, 25 for chicken and 10 for vegetarian. There was no winner. The choice with the fewest votes is eliminated and the second choice from those votes (in this case 10 vegetarian votes) are given to the other three choices. However those that voted for Vegetarian, did not make a second choice. They did make third and forth choices. Because they did not rank a second choice their ballots are said to be exhausted an are removed from the count. The chicken was the next lowest choice. The second choice for those who voted for chicken were; 16 for beef and 9 for pork. When these are added to the first round votes, the results are beef 51 and pork 39. Beef is the winner.
Scenario #2 – Four choices on the ballot; beef, pork, chicken and vegetarian.
100 votes were cast. Beef received 35 votes, pork 35 votes, chicken 20 votes and vegetarian 10 votes. As in the first example, vegetarian is eliminated and the second choice of those who voted for vegetarian is given to the beef, pork and chicken. In this case the second choice of those who voted for vegetarian were; 2 for beef, 2 for pork and 6 for chicken. When those are added to the results from the first round the results are 37 for beef, 37 for pork and 26 for chicken. Still no winner.
Chicken has the next fewest votes, at 26, and so it is exhausted and the second choice of those that voted for chicken are added to the beef and pork. Their second choice was 7 for beef and 13 for pork. Beef had 37 votes after the previous round adding the 7 from the second choice of those that voted for chicken gives beef 44. Adding the 13 votes from those that had voted for chicken gives pork a total of 50. Pork is the winner.
Considerations
- If a voter fails to have a second choice, their vote will not count after the first round.
- The item or individual that received the most votes in the first round may lose the election. (Example #2. Scenario #2)
- The system is confusing and difficult to explain or understand.
- Using this system, it is still possible to not have a clear winner, resulting in a run-off. (Example #1, Scenario #3)
- When an election involves more than one county, as in a Congressional District, the ballots must all be sent to a single location for processing. This could be the Secretary of State. When this is done, the county looses control of the election. This would also be true for the President, Vice-President and all state wide elections.
- This process would require the development and printing of two or more ballots; county ballots, congressional district ballot and state ballots. This would increase printing cost and time handling multiple ballots.
- It would be almost impossible to audit an election.
- There would be no way to conduct a recount.
References
Ranked Choice Education Association – https://rankedchoiceedu.org
Stop RCV- https://stoprcv.com
