What to expect in November’s RCV elections: Part 2

Avram Reisman, Bryan Huang | 

With less than a week left until Election Day 2024, let’s take a look at what to expect from ranked choice voting (RCV) elections and ballot measures. This November, voters in two states and 12 cities will use RCV to elect their leaders. Additionally, voters in four states; Washington, DC; and two other cities will vote on ballot measures to bring RCV to their elections.

This post will focus on city ballot measures and RCV elections; please read our preview of statewide ballot measures and RCV elections here. You can also get involved with city and state ballot measures at this link. Highlights include:

  • 12 cities and counties will use ranked choice voting this November, across six states (CA, DE, ME, MD, OR, and VA).
  • Portland, OR will use RCV for the first time and elect a new city government, including the mayor and 12 city council members. Portland voters overwhelmingly supported a charter reform package in 2022 to overhaul their city government. 
  • Washington, DC will vote on adopting RCV in both party primaries and general elections. 
  • Oak Park, IL and Richmond, CA will vote on ballot measures to adopt RCV for local elections. Peoria, IL will vote on a resolution asking Illinois to adopt RCV statewide. Bloomington, MN will vote on whether to repeal RCV after passing it in 2020. (Notably, voters have not voted to repeal RCV in any city since 2010.)

First use of proportional RCV in Portland, Oregon 

Following a successful charter reform measure in 2022, Portland’s government and elections have been transformed. The mayor’s role and powers have been recalibrated, and the office is now elected using single-winner RCV. The “city commission” has become a city council with  greater powers, and it has been expanded from five members to 12 members; it is now elected in four districts of three members each using the proportional form of RCV.

With so many open seats and the city’s unusually low threshold for ballot qualification, the city council races have drawn nearly a hundred candidates across the four wards to compete for the twelve spots. The races have primarily focused on some of the biggest challenges facing Portland – homelessness, housing, and public safety. However, some candidates have highlighted other issues, such as the local music industry’s problems with Live Nation, responding to climate change, and effective city administration. 

In a single-winner plurality election, candidates might be incentivized to campaign on a handful of hot-button topics. But with RCV, there is a greater incentive to talk about issues that are important to smaller groups of voters, too. Voters who might otherwise have been part of an ignored political minority can be a key part of the winning coalition.

The mayoral election is also expected to be competitive. Five candidates are vying for the open seat. A ranked choice poll by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows that the frontrunners are Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, business owner Keith Wilson, and Commissioner Carmen Rubio. It’s likely that no candidate will win a majority of voters’ first choices, and that the race will proceed to multiple rounds of counting. 

Several candidates have said the city’s charter reforms – particularly RCV – influenced their decision to run. Nat West, a District 2 candidate, said, “We can now elect councilors who are truly representative of the electorate, not just who has the money.” Mitch Green, a District 4 candidate, said, “Charter reform made it possible for a working class person like me to actually run.” Angelita Morillo and Tiffany Koyama Lane, both running in District 3, have campaigned together across the district.

Major media outlets, including The Oregonian and Portland Mercury, have issued ranked endorsements – modeling how voters can use their ballot to express their full range of preferences.  

Portland will follow best practices for running RCV elections by releasing RCV results on election night. However, Oregon accepts all ballots postmarked by election day, and – as is the case with its “choose-one” elections – results in close contests may not be certain until all mail ballots have been processed, which could take several days. 

20 years of RCV in California’s Bay Area

Four cities across California’s Bay Area will use RCV for their municipal elections. In San Francisco – whose 2004 adoption of RCV kicked off the modern era of RCV momentum – the mayor and six members of the Board of Supervisors will be elected using RCV. 

Incumbent mayor London Breed faces a very competitive race, with top-tier challengers including Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, Aaron Peskin, and Ahsha Safaí. With such a high number of contenders, second- and third-choice preferences will likely be decisive. 

Recognizing this, candidates Mark Farrell and Ahsha Safaí cross-endorsed each other and encouraged their supporters to rank the other second. And candidate Daniel Lurie has asked voters who support a different candidate to rank him second.

Voters also have several candidates to choose from in each Board of Supervisors district. Districts 3, 9, and 11 are open seats. In wide-open races like these, endorsements can be crucial for standing out from the crowd; with RCV, local organizations and leaders can build coalitions by endorsing multiple candidates who share their priorities. SEIU Local 1021, the SF Bicycle Coalition, and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club have all offered ranked endorsements of multiple candidates. Incumbents in Districts 1, 5, and 7 each face three or four challengers. 

San Francisco’s government has implemented a robust voter education plan this year. The city sent notices in four languages to every household. In addition, the Department of Elections held presentations on the upcoming RCV election, coordinated with community organizations for voter education, and created an interactive RCV practice website.

Voters in Albany, Berkeley, and Oakland will also use RCV for city elections this year, with Albany using the gold standard of proportional RCV for its City Council and School Board. 

San Francisco follows best practices and releases RCV results on election night, with final certified results coming after all mail-in votes are counted. The other Bay Area cities using RCV have not yet released their schedule for publishing results this year.

First uses of RCV in Westbrook, ME and Arlington, VA

Voters in Westbrook, ME will use RCV for the first time after voting to adopt it with 63% support in 2021. Voters will be able to rank the three candidates running for mayor. Mainers have been using RCV for federal and state legislative races since 2018, and Maine voters consistently say they understand it and like it; Westbrook’s decision to expand RCV to local elections is a clear indication of how well it has been working across the state so far.

A few states south, Arlington, VA will also be using RCV in a general election for the first time. Arlingtonians first used RCV in for County Board primaries in 2023. Not long after, the Board voted to make RCV permanent for all future Board primaries, and to pilot it for this year’s general election. In an exit poll from the 2024 County Board primaries, 88% of voters said that RCV was easy and 67% said they wanted to continue using it. 

According to Madison Granger, one of the four candidates in this year’s general election:

[Ranked choice voting] eliminates the spoiler effect, so voters can give their support to the candidate they truly like best and more candidates can run without worrying about aiding the proverbial ‘other side.’ That strengthens our democracy. It also requires winning candidates to have broader support. It incentivizes them to find common ground with their opponents’ voter bases because they need to earn those #2 rankings. I’m excited that Arlington is leading the way among American localities in using this style of voting.

Full list of locations using RCV this November

In total, 15 jurisdictions have used or will use RCV in elections this year. They include Burlington (VT), which used RCV this spring, and the jurisdictions below, which are using RCV in November:

  • Alaska (statewide)
  • Maine (statewide)
  • Albany, CA
  • Arden, DE
  • Arlington County, VA
  • Benton County, OR
  • Berkeley, CA
  • Corvallis, OR
  • Oakland, CA
  • Portland, ME
  • Portland, OR
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Takoma Park, MD
  • Westbrook, ME

For more information on this year’s RCV elections and ballot measures, visit FairVote’s 2024 Elections Hub.