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Portland staff propose switching to fractional transfers for proportional ranked‑choice voting
Summary
At a Portland City Council workshop, the city clerk presented an amendment to the municipal ordinance on proportional ranked‑choice voting to replace whole‑ballot transfers with fractional (weighted Gregory) transfers; the item drew explanation from the League of Women Voters and no final vote was taken.
At a Portland City Council workshop, the city clerk introduced a proposed amendment to Chapter 9 of the municipal code to change how proportional ranked‑choice voting (PRCV) handles surplus votes in multiwinner contests, replacing the ordinance’s current whole‑ballot transfer method with a fractional (weighted Gregory) transfer method.
The change would apply to multiwinner contests such as the upcoming November school board at‑large election (two at‑large seats) and follows a charter requirement from Charter Question 4 (2022) that Portland adopt a form of proportional ranked‑choice voting. The clerk said the city adopted a PRCV ordinance in September 2023 modeled on Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Westbrook, Maine, and that the amendment would strike the current language and implement fractional transfers instead of transferring entire ballots.
The League of Women Voters of Maine…
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