County elections staff brief Troutdale on Nov. 2026 rollout of ranked‑choice voting

Leah Benson, Multnomah County’s ranked‑choice voting project manager, told the Troutdale City Council on March 10 that the county will implement ranked‑choice voting for county offices beginning with the November 2026 election and is launching a broad voter‑education effort.

Benson said the county’s outreach plan includes a $100,000 grant program to fund nonpartisan voter education targeted to communities east of Portland, a paid advertising campaign, translated videos and a full‑page explanation of RCV included with every ballot packet. County material will present a grid‑style ballot with up to six ranked choices and emphasize that using additional rankings does not harm a voter’s first choice.

RCV tabulation looks first at voters’ first choices; if no candidate receives a majority, the lowest‑vote candidate is eliminated and ballots are reallocated by each voter’s next highest ranking until a candidate surpasses 50 percent, Benson said. She also noted that Multnomah County previously piloted RCV in Portland and is now rolling the system out countywide following voter approval in November 2022.

Council members and residents asked technical questions. One councilor said he understood RCV required three candidates in a contest; Benson corrected that Multnomah County’s implementation will use ranked‑choice tabulation when there are two or more filed candidates for a contest. Residents asked how county outreach will coordinate with local efforts; Benson said the county is working with its Office of Community Involvement and invited ideas and contact information from the council and community.

Councilors also heard that the county plans to remove primary elections for county offices affected by the change — contests will instead appear on November general election ballots — and Benson emphasized the county’s intention to begin a major voter‑education push beginning in September and continuing through the fall.

The presentation included a request that local media and city staff help amplify accurate RCV instructions and results reporting. Benson provided an email for follow‑up and pointed the council to the county’s resource website for RCV materials and multilingual videos.

The presentation closed with questions and brief public comments from Troutdale residents who sought local clarification on how the change might affect turnout and local campaigning; Benson encouraged residents to contact the county with specific community groups that should receive targeted outreach.