In November 2024 STV was used for the first time in that city to elect the city council.
2024 Portland city election
STV used in three-seat districts to elect city councillors.
no party labels so can't determine party proportionality
good diversity among members although most or all have post-secondary education. (but that is maybe to be expected)
More than two-thirds of votes were used to elect someone in each district.
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sources:
Wikipeda "2024 Portland Oregon City council election
City of Portland Councilor Preliminary Results 7
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2024 Portland STV election
elects mayor, auditor and councillors who will serve in their respective posts from Jan 2025 to Jan 2027.
mayor and auditor elected by IRV
each district elects three councillors elected by STV
although each district elects 3 and as many as 30 candidates including write-ins ran in a district, each voter was allowed to mark only five back-up preferences in addition to his or her first choice.
the number of exhausted votes not reported in Wikipedia or in official reports (still only preliminary results posted).
but I have calculated exhausted votes based on:
-valid votes (based on 4 X quota);
-effective votes (held by successful candidates at end), and
-votes held by last unsuccessful candidate.
other oddity is transfer of surplus of votes is labelled as "lead in contest". (reference to old plurality system)
quota referred to as threshold (although many cases where people elected with fewer votes)
also the transfer that forms up new running total vote tally in each Count is presented as happening between "Round"s , not at beginning of the relevant Count.
(perhaps same difference but Portland's report is unusual in that way.)
some form of Gregory used perhaps WIGM.
not many fractions balling up the works, because at most only two surplus transfers conducted prior to unnecessary Rounds at end.
Computer programmer did not understand that in normal STV, when seats filled, the process actually ends.
votes simply disappear - obviously they are exhausted but no reporting of it.
District 1 -- Candace Avalos's 75 surplus votes transferred away but only 55 votes delivered to recipient candidates. the 20 exhausted votes were just lost.
each Round in the official report does not have a vote total to ensure no votes lost, so the loss of 20 votes in Count 13 (setting up Count 14) was not noted.
District 1
16 candidates
1st count leaders all elected the end.
Excluding un-necessary vote transfers recorded at the end of the count, one achieved quota; the other two won with partial quotas.
vote count process
total valid votes 23,190 (approx.)
quota 5798 (25% plus 1)
Avalos got 16 percent in 1st count
Smith 14 percent in 1st count
Dunphy 12 percent in 1st count
all three won in the end.
winners
no one got quota in first count.
none elected due to transfer of 1st-count winners' surplus
none elected before end
two elected by partial quota at the end.
effective votes:
Count 15 three left in running for last two seats.
at that time, the winners are clear - Smith and Dunphy
total of their two vote tallies at Count 15 plus Avalos with Quota is:
15,827 (about 68 percent)
last unsuccessful candidate 4283
exhausted votes approx. 3080
total ineffective votes -- 7363 (32 percent)
Un-necessary "Round"s at end:
Winners are determined in Round 15 (only three running for last two seats; least-pop. cand. certain to be declared defeated)
Round 16 votes of the least-pop. candidate transferred
Round 17 the candidate who achieved quota had his surplus stripped away but not delivered to any other candidate.
Diversity elected:
Candace Avalos -- environmental, black woman
Avalos is the executive director of the environmental nonprofit organization Verde, and is a co-founder of the Black Millennial Movement
Avalos initially ran for the Portland City Commission in the 2020 election, announcing her run in August of 2019.[5] She was defeated by Carmen Rubio in the primary, receiving only 8.9 percent of the vote compared to Rubio's 67.6 percent.
her vote share went up to 16 percent, which grew by vote transfers to quota.
Loretta Smith - activist for poor, black woman;
served on the Portland Metro Workforce Development Board, which aims to curb the unemployment rate especially among people of color.
former Moltnomah County commissioner
Jamie Dunphy - white male
musician, keeps two goats. former business owner and former civil servant
District 2
total votes 76,632
quota 19,158
22 candidates
1st count leaders all elected in the end.
the candidate who was in third place in the 1st count actually achieved quota before the candidates in 1st and 2nd place.
vote count process
Elected: Elana Pirtle-Guiney
Dan Ryan
Sameer Kanal.
In Round 20 Penson certain to be declared defeated.
winners
no one got quota in first count.
none elected due to transfer of 1st-count winners' surplus
none elected before end
two elected by partial quota, and one elected with quota at the end.
effective votes:
three winners had total of 55,833 votes 73 percent
last unsuccessful cand. Penson - Round 20 13,185
exhausted votes approx. 7614
ineffective votes 20,799 27 percent
Un-necessary "Round"s at end:
Rounds 21, 22, 23 un-necessary
Diversity elected
Sameer Kanal He will be the first Asian American (along with fellow council member-elect Tiffany Koyama Lane) and the first South Asian American to serve on Portland City Council.
Dan Ryan white male
former Portland school board member
Upon his election as Portland county commissioner, Ryan called for an end to the 2020 Portland protests and committed to establishing a "peace summit" between local politicians and activists.[10] Ryan assumed office on September 9, 2020.[11][12] Ryan became notable for his "safe rest village" program that involved large sites for sanctioned homeless camping
Elana Pirtle-Guiney white woman. Queer. labor organizer
District 3
total valid votes 84016 (approx.)
quota 21004
24 candidates
vote count process
Elected: Novick
Morillo
Lane
Round 29 4th-place candidate certain to be declared defeated.
winners
no one got quota in first count.
none elected due to transfer of 1st-count winners' surplus
NOVICK elected in Round 20
MORILLO and LANE elected by full quotas at the end (Round 29)
effective votes:
three winners had total of 64,706 votes 77 percent
last unsuccessful cand. - Round 29 10,452
exhausted votes approx. 8858
ineffective votes 19,310 23 percent
Un-necessary "Round"s at end: Round 30
Diversity elected
Steve Novick attorney, former county commissioner, son of an union organizer,
born with significant physical anomalies (missing left hand, etc.)
He spent nearly ten years arguing on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), culminating in the Love Canal case in upstate New York, on which he served as lead counsel.
Angelita Morillo Paraguayan immigrant, Queer.
works as a policy advocate and legislative strategist at Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon
Tiffany Koyama Lane
teacher
She will be the first Asian-American woman to serve on Portland City Council
District 4 (preliminary 7 results)
valid votes 76,632
quota 18,915
30 candidates including write-ins
winners:
Olivia Clark
Green
Zimmerman
vote count process
Arnold, 3rd-place in 1st Count, was not elected, his vote tally being overtaken by Zimmerman.
This is only case across the four districts where a person initially in winning position did not go on to be elected.
winners
no one got quota in first count.
none elected due to transfer of 1st-count winners' surplus
CLARK elected in Round 8
GREEN elected with quota just at end (Round 29)
ZIMMERMAN elected by partial quota at the end. (Round 29)
effective votes:
three winners had total of 52,219 votes 68 percent
last unsuccessful cand. Arnold - Round 29 12,676
exhausted votes approx. 11,737
ineffective votes 24,413 32 percent
Un-necessary "Round"s at end: Rounds 30, 31, 32
Diversity elected
Clark sociologist
Green economist energy economist first in family to get college degree
Zimmerman Business administration degree. war veteran. member of LGBTQ community.
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Overall balance
Women 6
Men 6
Portlanders elected a diverse group of people to City Hall. While the majority of incoming councilors (all Democrats) fall to the left of center politically, nearly half hold more centrist views, like wanting to add more police and penalize unhoused people for living outside.
Six are women.
Five are people of color.
Four identify as LGBTQ+.
Most have political experience, but some have spent their entire careers outside of government buildings.
...
Koyama Lane said it was the likely result of campaigning in a ranked choice voting election, in which the top three vote-getters in each district won.
“There was a lot of incentive for people to be kind to each other, be collaborative, because these people might be your colleagues,” she said.
...
Mitch Green was elected to District 4, which includes Portland’s west side and several southeast neighborhoods. Green is one of three councilors who are members of Portland’s Democratic Socialists of America. He said he’s already talking with his fellow socialists on council — like Koyama Lane — about forming a voting bloc with other progressive electeds. “And I know there will be an analog on the more moderate side of council,” Green said. “We need to be strategic.”
One of the first council votes will be a critical one: electing a council president. This leadership position is responsible for fielding other councilors’ policy proposals and choosing which will be heard and voted on at council meetings. At least half of the incoming councilors want the job.
...
District representation [formerly City had no wards] is another new system for councilors to navigate. It’s largely up to councilors to decide how they share responsibilities with their two other district colleagues. Several incoming councilors say they’d like to jointly attend neighborhood meetings and engage with constituents who reach out to their district office. (The incoming council will decide locations for those offices.)
Green said he sees divvying up roles based on policy expertise. With a focus on environmental issues and the economy, Green said he’d allow his other District 4 colleagues — Clark and Eric Zimmerman — to take the lead on addressing public concerns on policing. Zimmerman and Clark were both endorsed by Portland’s police union.
“There are areas where I’m not a subject matter expert,” Green said. “I can trust Eric or Olivia on public safety. That’s potentially delivering them a political win. But winning back the faith of this electorate is critical.”
Smith is less convinced by this tactic.
“It’ll be wise to coordinate,” she said. “But at the same time, when you go on the ballot, you go on the ballot by yourself. People are going to gauge you for what you were able to get done.”
...
City Commissioner Dan Ryan won a council seat, leaving him the only incumbent on council. Voters showed a desire for different ideas in City Hall.
“The pressure to get things done … to follow through on pledges, it’s real,” Green said. “I want to make sure the new council avoids falling into the trap of saying, ‘Well we had to get the new government all set up so we really couldn’t do anything.’ That’s not going to fly.”
Elana Pirtle-Guiney, incoming councilor for North Portland’s District 2.
Courtesy of the candidate
Some councilors don’t see their campaign priorities being hindered by the new system. Elana Pirtle-Guiney, an incoming councilor for North Portland’s District 2, said her biggest campaign pledge was ensuring the new form of government worked.
“I truly think that’s what we need to focus on,” she said. “Because if we don’t get this system right, the consequences of that will be long lasting for our city.”
And new councilors with rigid policy agendas will be delayed in advancing them once they step into City Hall. Along with learning the ropes of the new governance system, the new council will need to focus on several timely issues, like passing a budget in the face of massive funding shortfalls, choosing what policies to lobby for during the state’s January legislative session, and deciding whether to advance new taxes to the May ballot.
Sameer Kanal, an incoming councilor for North Portland’s District 2, lamented the number of unfinished projects the current council is passing off to next year’s body to address. He pointed to the city’s mounting backlog of building and street maintenance projects and its frayed relationship with Multnomah County as examples.
“One of the big challenges is the sheer volume of problems that have not been solved and, in a few cases, have been exacerbated by previous councils,” said Kanal. “There’s a lot to do. At the same time, there’s a justifiable impatience and lack of trust in our local government from everyday Portlanders.”
...
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