Portland voters gave good marks to ranked choice voting
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Voters in Portland largely took to ranked choice voting, but there's still room for improvement. Photo: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images
A month after Portland's first ranked choice election, polling shows the new form of voting was mostly a success, with a few caveats.
Why it matters: November's election was the first test of ranked choice voting in Portland as voters made crucial decisions on who would take power under the city's new form of government.
Zoom in: Exit polling conducted by the Portland city auditor — which surveyed some 1,658 voters and had a 2.8% margin of error — found ranked choice was widely known and well understood.
- Citywide, 85% of voters said they were aware of the switch to ranked choice.
- 91% said they understood how to fill out their ballots.
Yes, but: District 1 — which encompasses most of East Portland and has a higher percentage of voters of color — reported lower levels of voter participation.
- 43% of District 1 voters voted in the City Council race, compared with rates of at least 64% in other districts.
- District 1 also had the highest rate, 24%, of voters who "had not seen, heard about or read about" the switch to ranked choice voting.
What they're saying: Shannon Grimes, a democracy researcher with Sightline Institute, told Axios those numbers represent a long-running trend of low turnout in East Portland and are not a result of ranked choice voting.
- Grimes said she hopes that seeing increased representation on City Council from places like District 1 will lead voters there to have more buy-in for future elections, but that it will take time.
- Still, she said it was worth noting the recent election resulted in "the most representative City Council in the city's history," in terms of gender and ethnic diversity and citywide representation.
- "It's really a really encouraging start," Grimes said.
What we're watching: The City Elections Division will present final results of the election to City Council on Dec. 18 along with voter participation data and more detailed exit poll results.
The bottom line: Both Grimes and city officials said that, while the exit poll shows encouraging signs for the future of ranked choice voting, it also highlights the need for continued outreach to disengaged voters.
- "We look forward to a deeper analysis and strategically investing in voter education to ensure every Portlander feels confident casting their vote in future elections," Deborah Scroggin, City Elections Division manager, said in a written statement.