Our new study of systemic election reform

What were the reformers trying to do? And did it work?

In 2022, voters in Portland, Oregon, adopted a package of reforms to replace a commission government established in 1913. The old charter called for a small council and a peculiar version of at-large elections. The amended charter set up a mayor-council government, enlarged the city council, provided for multi-seat districts, and instituted a system of elections using proportional ranked-choice voting, also known as single transferable voting (STV).

This report preliminarily assesses the new electoral system’s performance. Our analysis broadly asks whether the reform package met the stated goals of Portland’s charter commission, which proposed it. The report begins with a brief history of that commission and its work and then describes the new multi-seat STV system. The report subsequently assesses this new system for choosing a city council based on how close it came in November 2024 to achieving the charter commission’s objectives.

So, what did we learn about the reform effort and its effects? Well, a few things….

Read the web version here.

Read the PDF version here.