RCV on the Ballot in November 2024
State-by-State, Part 2
A Vote "Yes" Ad in Washington, D.C.
IRV & STV on the Ballot in Missouri, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.
October 31, 2024
In our previous blog posts, DODO provided an overview of Ranked-choice Voting (RCV) in the United States and its appearance on ballot measures this November, and explored the “open primaries” measures, which would utilize RCV. In this post, we focus on proposals to adopt, authorize, or ban RCV in two states and Washington, D.C. Table 1 summarizes key characteristics of the RCV measures on the ballot in November 2024.
Table 1: Statewide Ballot Measures to Adopt, Authorize, or Ban, RCV November 2024
Below, we provide an overview of each state’s (and Washington, D.C.'s) proposals.
Missouri
The Text of Constitutional Amendment 7.
Missourians will vote on Amendment 7, which bans non-citizen voting, prohibits RCV, and requires simple single-winner plurality primaries in which one candidate from each party primary advances to the general election (in effect prohibiting top-two and top-four primaries). On the topic of RCV, the amendment would add the following line into the state constitution:
“Under no circumstance shall a voter be permitted to cast a ballot in a manner that results in the ranking of candidates for a particular office.”
If it passes, Amendment 7 would not change election administration, since no Missouri elections are conducted using RCV. However, Missouri would become the 11th state to ban RCV since the beginning of 2022, and the 6th this year.
Oregon
The "Yes" campaign's logo
Oregonians will decide whether to enact IRV in statewide executive and federal offices (including president) in Measure 117. Referred to the people by the state legislature, Measure 117 would also explicitly permit local governments to adopt RCV for their local elections. Each locality would need to opt-in.
Many Oregon voters will have some familiarity with RCV: Portland and Corvallis are using IRV for the first time in November, including for mayor in Portland, and Benton County has used RCV in local elections since 2020.
Washington, D.C.
Voters in Washington, D.C. will vote on Initiative 83, which would introduce RCV (IRV for most offices, and STV for its two-winner city council races) for all elections (primary, special, and general) in DC with three or more candidates. In the District of Columbia, these elections include president, congressional delegate, mayor, attorney general, members of the D.C. Council, State Board of Education, and Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
Initiative 83 would also allow unaffiliated voters to vote in party primaries. D.C. currently uses closed primaries, in which unaffiliated voters cannot vote.
The Democratic Party has emerged as a chief opponent of Initiative 83 (because it would weaken the Democratic Party organization), while groups like FairVote Action lead the “Yes” campaign.
For more information, read the Vote Guy's summary of the proposal.
Washington, D.C. "Yes" Ad