Rank this
One of the very few vaguely bright spots in yesterday's disastrous election was the overwhelming rejection of Oregon Measure 117, "rank choice voting," on a statewide basis. The vote was roughly 3-to-2. Nearly every single county in the state voted it down. There were only three dumb ones: Multnomah, of course, but then Benton (which includes Corvallis) and Hood River.
The ranky-ranky business continues today in the Portland City Council races. It will go on for a few more business days, and it will be interesting to see if the newly counted ballots change anything. But most of Oregon has got this right. "Rank choice" is garbage.
Sometimes leaving well enough alone is a good idea. I think it shows a sign of maturity.
ReplyDeleteIt preserved closed primaries and exempted Oregon legislators in typical legislature referendum-like Oregon flavor cowardice / meet the new boss same as the old boss.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really understand why the blog OP thinks this is such a bug-bear?
No real strong preference, and I understand the concern about low information daydreamer Portland voters, but long term, if we get to ranked choice no more runoffs or closed primaries say, I doubt it is going to be amazing or terrible, but if we can figure out how the hell to vote strategically in groups (doubtful in the short term?), I actually think long term it *could* help us dislodge the entrenched big $ backed candidates maybe a little?
Maybe not a lot and with change comes risk, I didn’t see this particular iteration mattering a whole lot?
I've explained what's wrong with it here: https://www.bojack2.com/2024/10/the-case-against-rank-choice-voting.html
DeleteThe engineers on the charter commission designed this, not that anyone in our media paid any attention. It's a feature, not a bug--and it has richly rewarded Candace and her pals. Golly! Where can I get a $133K job with 7,000 votes? .
ReplyDeleteA good reminder that the state CAN overcome Portland when it wants to.
ReplyDeleteDoesn’t surprise me that Benton voted for it, since they have used it for year in their county commissioner elections. While I see some merit to ranked choice, it’s not the right time.
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