Get Ready to Rank Your Vote

How to Fill in Your Ranked Choice Voting Ballot in Three Easy Steps

Step 1: Choose up to six candidates you would be comfortable representing you and your policy concerns. You don’t have to rank six, but the more you rank, the more voice you have in determining who is elected. Do not include anyone you would not support.

Step 2: Pick the candidate among them who you like best and, with a blue or black pen, fill in the bubble next to their name, under the column “Rank 1.” (In this example, candidate 6.) 

Step 3: Then rank your second choice in the “Rank 2” column, your third choice in the “Rank 3” column, and so on, up to six. Fill in no more than one oval per candidate and one per rank.

You don’t need to worry even if you make a mistake. You can correct your ballot  by drawing an ‘X’ over any oval that you do not want counted. It’s that easy!

How Ranked Choice Ballots are Counted

In elections with only one winner, a candidate must receive the majority of votes (50% + 1) to win. In November 2026, single-winner RCV will be used to elect the Portland City Auditor as well as the Multnomah County Chair, Auditor, Sheriff and District 2 Commissioner. Here’s how the winner will be chosen.

After all first-ranked votes are counted, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated from the race. Anyone who voted for that candidate has their vote reallocated to their second ranking. (It’s as if a menu item you request is no longer available, so your order moves to your second choice.) 

If, after that round there is still no winner, the next candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, their votes are reapportioned, and the process continues until someone gets more than 50 percent and the winner is announced. 

Try it out! Use our mock election to see how RCV works

In elections for Portland City Council, where there are three councilmembers elected per district, there is a different threshold candidates must meet to be declared a winner. Portland Districts 3 & 4 will elect their district representatives in 2026.

Watch Our Explainer Video

View our online RCV training. In less than 10 minutes, we explain how RCV will work for Portland and Multnomah County this fall.

 

The League of Women Voters of Oregon has conducted three in-depth studies of electoral reform since 2008. Those have unanimously concluded that, of all the possible improvements to our current election system, Ranked Choice Voting offers the most effective pathway for the preservation of our democratic system.

Specifically, the League found that ranked choice voting delivers more equitable results by:

• Ending victories by candidates who don’t get a majority of the votes. (In the standard first-past-the-post election system, the candidate who gets the most votes wins. In a two-person race, that would be a majority. But if there are three people on the ballot, which is often the case, the leading candidate could win with as few as 34% of the vote. That would mean that 66% of the voters would have preferred that someone else won.)
• More fairly representing voters’ genuine preferences, rather than limiting them to a choice between the top two vote-getters in a primary contest with low and more polarized voter turnout.
• Eliminating concerns about “spoiler” candidates and ensuring that the winner has broad support among voters
• Allowing voters to give their top rankings to candidates they truly support instead of strategically voting for the candidate they think has the best chance of success in a winner-take-all race. 
• Encouraging voter participation and engagement with candidates
• Increasing opportunities for female and non-white candidates
• Lessening political polarization and negative campaigning, while promoting collaboration

Ranked choice voting is a proven and tested election method used to elect government officials in 36 cities, 3 counties and 2 states across America—from Alaska to Maine. It has consistently been rated as both easy and an improvement on the old winner-take-all system.