Oregon Legislative Referral 403 (HB 2004)is a referral to voters to consider Ranked-Choice Voting at the upcoming November 2024 General Election. The petitioner, James Sasinowski, challenged the ballot title, asserting non-compliance with requirements set out in ORS 250.035(2). LR 403 would amend ORS chapter 254 to require ranked choice voting for certain elections and would permit local governments to adopt ranked-choice voting in their elections.

The ballot title for LR 403 was prepared by a joint legislative committee and filed with the Secretary of State. Sasinowski challenged all parts of the ballot title, arguing that the word "majority" was used inaccurately and without proper context. He contended that "majority of votes" suggests that a candidate has received the majority of total votes cast, but in operation, ranked-choice voting can produce a winner who does not receive that type of "majority" vote.

The Oregon Supreme Court, in docket case S070879, agreed with Sasinowski in part. The court found that the caption of the ballot title for LR 403 did not reasonably identify the subject matter of the measure and required modification. The court also agreed that the "yes" result statement in the ballot title for LR 403 did not substantially comply with ORS 250.035(2)(b) and required modification. However, the court disagreed with the petitioner that the "no" result statement and the summary in the ballot title for LR 403 required modification. The court concluded that the caption and "yes" result statement in the joint legislative committee’s ballot title for LR 403 required modification and referred the ballot title to the Attorney General for modification.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Judge Garrett summarizes how ranked-choice voting will work. “As defined in LR 403, ranked-choice voting would permit—but not require—a voter to rank on their ballot multiple candidates and write-in candidates, in order of the voter’s preference. Each cast ballot would be counted as one vote for each voter’s “highest-ranked active candidate.” Ballots then would be tallied in rounds; if an active candidate were to receive a majority of votes cast in the first round, then that candidate would be elected (or nominated, as applicable). Id. § 4(2)(a), (b)(A). But, if no active candidate were to amass a majority of votes, then (1) the candidate with the fewest votes would be defeated (and so no longer would be an active candidate); (2) the votes that had been counted for that defeated candidate would be “transferred to each ballot’s next highest-ranked active candidate”; and (3) a new round of tallying would begin. Id. § 4(2)(b)(B). That same process would continue until an active candidate amassed a majority of votes in a final round of tallying. Id.”

The question of what “majority” means is the majority of votes counted for active candidates in the final round of tallying, as opposed to the majority of total votes cast. In each round of tabulation some voters won't receive equal voting rights eliminating their second, third, etc. votes from being counted. The more candidates that run for a seat, the more likely a second or third choice candidate could win.

“Round” means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation. This goes directly back to the case of Washington County vs. Tim Sippel in which Washington County was joined by Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum, and the Secretary of State Shemia Fagan to prevent the release of the voting SQL zip files saying the public has no interest or need to know. The SQL files are the tests run on the machine's tabulation prior to the elections to see that the machines are operating correctly. It takes data from various tables it has access to, and it can manipulate that data to come up with an answer according to its protocol.

The 2024 legislature took it in their hands to remove public certification tests on voting machines in SB 1538, which went into effect March 27, 2024. The Gartner evaluation stated the system was not qualified to meet the standards to be used for the 2024 election, but here we are, voting on LR 403 with no way to test or challenge a system completely dependent on computer tabulators. The voters need answers and a voting system that works fairly and not a run around to avoid transparency.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-05-22 15:07:31

Last Update: 2024-05-22 19:32:55