This story will be updated at 8 pm with initial election results.

The 2023 Oregon Legislature referred Ballot Measure 117 to voters who asked whether they wanted to adopt ranked-choice voting for the nomination and election of the president of the United States, members of Congress, and the governor, secretary of state , the treasurer, the attorney general and the governor of Oregon. and labor commissioner.

Instead of voting for a single candidate, voters would rank the candidates in order of preference.

If the measure passes, every vote cast starting in 2028 would count as one vote for the first-ranked candidate. If one candidate received the majority of votes in that initial “round,” the election would be over.

If no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated and the votes that had been cast for him would be allocated to the next highest ranked candidate. A new round would begin and counting would continue until one candidate obtained a majority.

Benton County began using ranked-choice voting in 2020 for county seats with a minimum of three candidates. Only the Benton County Commissioner race qualified. In Corvallis, the City Council approved ranked-choice voting in 2022 for City Council and mayoral elections. Portland voters are using ranked-choice voting to elect city council members.

Maine voters approved ranked-choice voting in 2016 and it was first used in the June 2018 primary election. Alaskans narrowly approved ranked-choice voting in 2022, but vote on tuesday on whether to repeal it and open primaries.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared in the Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon Election Results on Ranked Choice Voting