You are invited: 

Learn About Ranked-Choice Voting In Oregon

A special Zoom event was hosted by LWV Portland on Wednesday, September 11th via zoom. With measure 117 adopting Ranked-Choice Voting on the 2024 ballot, it is important for us to understand what this can mean to our electoral system and Oregon communities.

League panelists were asked questions during the session, including both why the LWVOR supports the measure and how Ranked-Choice Voting works. Learn from a panel of speakers by listening to the recording of that event by clicking on the link above.

LWV Portland members and others from around the state invite you to listen in.

Barbara Klein

LWVOR 1st VP and Communications Chair

OF NOTE:  Portland is Moving Forward with Confidence

This November, Portlanders will experience a new voting method when the city introduces ranked-choice voting (RCV) to elect its top elected officials. Although RCV is not new — 43 other American cities, two states and, three counties now use it — its unfamiliarity to local voters has raised a number of questions and concerns.  Are the voters and the election system prepared for this major change?

Can I trust the outcome? What has happened in other cities that have instituted RCV?  What will it mean for the future direction of Portland?

Join Us for this Community Education Program recording!

Panelists included:

 Grace Ramsey, Co-Founder & Co-Director of Democracy Rising - over 10 years of experience working on voter education campaigns across the country. She has worked on campaigns to adopt or implement ranked choice voting in Alaska, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Oakland, Duluth, Maine, Santa Fe, Memphis, Las Cruces, New York City, Eastpointe, Albany, Palm Desert, Yakima, and more cities across the country.  She is currently working with the City of Portland Transition Team to support ranked-choice voting education through community organizations.

Sean Dugar, Founder & President of CORE (Collective of Organizers for Reformed Elections) and CEO of Democratic Solutions - an organizer, advocate, and champion of democracy. He has worked for and consulted with organizations like the NAACP, FairVote, Common Cause and numerous issue and candidate campaigns. In 2021, with Rank the Vote NYC, Sean led an outreach and organizing campaign that reached 1.5 million New Yorkers, mobilized a coalition of over 750 organizations, conducted 600-plus educational events, trained 450 candidates and campaigns, and knocked on 55,000 doors.

Kali Odell, Elections District & Candidate Specialist, Multnomah County Elections Division - program specialist with Multnomah County Elections. She specializes in working with local jurisdictions, voters, and  candidates seeking access to be on Multnomah County ballots. She is a part of the team that is working towards the smooth and effective administration of ranked choice voting elections for the City of Portland in November 2024.

Tiffany Montemayor, Senior Director of Programming & Outreach, Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center – became an elections administrator in 2020 as the Public Relations Manager for the State of Alaska Division of Elections. She was responsible for the public education campaign of Alaska’s nonpartisan, top-four primary and RCV general elections during the state’s successful implementation of the two new systems. Tiffany began her career in communications while earning her B.S. in Political Science from Texas Tech University and was the Communication and Development Director of a nonprofit prior to entering the elections world. Tiffany began working for the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center in September 2023 and, as the Senior Director of Programming and Outreach, is responsible for overseeing the development and publication of programming content.

Melanie Billings-Yun, League of Women Voters of Portland, Panel Moderator - co-chair of the Portland Charter Commission, which crafted city government reforms, including ranked choice voting, that were passed by voters in 2022. A retired professor, Melanie has taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Georgetown University School of Public Affairs, and Portland State School of Business specializing in international negotiation and cross-cultural collaboration. She leads the League’s Ranked Choice Voting team.