In April, the Ranked-Choice Voting team of League of Women Voters of Portland completed its report on the findings from its 2024 Portland City Council candidate survey project:
The findings were based on 20 interviews—11 with elected City Councilors and 9 with candidates who came in between 4th and 7th place—conducted by RCV team members between January and March. The goal was to learn from the candidates in Portland’s first-ever multi-winner ranked-choice voting election whether the system lived up to its promise of lessening negative campaigning, increasing collaboration, and opening the door to new, more diverse candidates. We also asked about the challenges of running a proportional representation campaign, how candidates felt the election system shaped the outcome of the election, and which campaign strategies proved to be most effective.
The interviewees delivered a strongly positive assessment of multi-winner ranked choice voting overall. In particular, it was credited with fulfilling its promise of attracting and electing more diverse candidates, reducing partisan rancor and rhetoric, and giving voice to voters who traditionally have had little representation in city government. However, some concerns were flagged. The most mentioned was the size of the candidate pool, which made it hard to stand out and reduced small donor elections funding. This was exacerbated by the particular situation that all city elected positions were being filled at the same time. More broadly, the interviews pointed to the need for more robust voter education, particularly tailored to underserved communities and those with a history of low voter turnout. This education effort needs to include training the candidates themselves, as not all of those we interviewed had a correct understanding of how multi-winner ranked-choice voting works.
It is hoped that this report will assist election officials and potential candidates in future Portland City Council races, as well as those in other communities new to proportional RCV.
Researched, nonpartisan reports like this demonstrate the power of the League’s volunteer-driven efforts to strengthen democracy at the local level.