Forum

Measure 117: Ranked Choice Voting

Date: October 18, 2024

Time: Noon to 1:15 pm

Event Type: Live/Livestream
Members and Non-Members may attend our forums for free

Venue: WOW Hall
291 W 8th
Eugene, Oregon
97401

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Other Details:

We will meet at the WOW Hall, 291 W 8th. Learn more: https://wowhall.org/about-us/. Walk, ride a bike or take the bus. You may park on the street or in the parking lot of FOOD for Lane County's Dining Room, across 8th from the WOW Hall. A freewill donation acknowledging the Dining Room's generosity may be made at the meeting.

Lunch will be available for $15.

Topic:

Last May Eugene voters considered adopting Star Voting, a new form of balloting for City offices. They defeated it nearly 2 to 1. Now all Oregonians are being asked to adopt a similar but different form of voting in primary and general elections for federal and state executive offices: Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Ballot Measure 117 would not affect state legislative elections, which would continue to use plurality voting.

Two states (Alaska and Maine) have already implemented RCV for some statewide races and nationwide some sixty local elections are decided by RCV, including Benton County Commissioner elections and Corvallis City Council elections here in Oregon. Supporters of the measure have argued that ranking candidates according to your preference instead of only voting for one individual eliminates the problem of voting for the lesser of two evils. They also argue that candidates will need to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters to be elected. Opponents’ concerns include that voters will find that filling out a RCV ballot will be too confusing, and that it will make running elections more expensive and delay election results.

The City Club of Eugene has invited representatives of both campaigns to present their case to our community and help voters better understand the measure before casting their votes. This forum will be moderated by KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk.

Join us on October 18 to learn why you should or shouldn’t vote for Ballot Measure 117.

Speakers

Name: Melanie Billings-Yun
Title: Chair
Organization: Portland League of Women Voters Ranked Choice Voting Committee
Website:
Biography:

Melanie Billings-Yun is a member of the League of Women Voters of Oregon and chair of the Portland League of Women Voters’ ranked-choice voting team. Previously, she was co-chair of the Portland Charter Commission, which crafted the ranked choice voting electoral system that was approved by Portland voters in 2022 and will be implemented this November. 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. She specializes in international negotiation and cross-cultural collaboration. She founded and was senior partner of Global Resolutions, a consulting firm providing negotiation assistance and expertise to businesses, governments, and individuals around the globe.


Name: Edwin Diehl
Title: Representative
Organization: Oregon House District 17
Website:
Biography:

Oregon Representative Edwin Diehl, House District 17, earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He founded and has been the president of Concept Systems Inc, and vice president of Motorized Precision, LLC. He is completing his first term as the elected Representative of Oregon House District 17.


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