When voters in Portland, Oregon, fill out their ballots in next month’s election they will be tasked not only with selecting new leaders, but also the implementation of a monumental overhaul of the city’s government.
Two years ago, residents moved to fundamentally alter their local government structure and adopted what experts have described as some of the most “expansive voting reforms” undertaken by a major US city in recent decades. Come November, the city will use ranked-choice voting to elect a mayor and a larger, more representative city council as Portland moves from a commission form of government to one overseen by a city administrator.
