Changes to McKenzie School voting qualify for petitions

Residents of the McKenzie School District could change how school board elections are decided in the upcoming May 2025 election. If approved, petition 20-2024-75 would allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference on a single ballot in an at-large election.

Sometimes referred to as “instant runoff voting,” ranked-choice voting (RCV) was not on a statewide ballot until this year. While Measure 117 will decide if Oregonians adopt RCV statewide, Benton County has already implemented the system, and Portland voters approved it for local elections in 2022.

In ranked-choice voting, if a candidate receives a majority (over 50%) of the votes, they win outright. However, if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who marked the eliminated candidate as their first choice then have those votes transferred to their second-choice candidate. This process continues until a candidate achieves a majority and is declared the winner.

Devon McCourt, who also goes by Devon Lawson, a McKenzie High School Senior who had considered running for a seat on the board, has advanced the ballot measure. In addition to the ranked-choice voting proposal, Lawson has also successfully promoted another ballot measure, 20-2024-76, which addresses lowering the voting age to 16 for school board elections in the McKenzie School District.

He notes the second initiative wouldn’t impact non-McKenzie School District elections, which still require voters to be at least 18 years old to participate in the vote.

Lawson believes these changes are essential to strengthening the district’s governance. “Ranked-choice voting ensures that elections reflect the will of the majority, providing fairer outcomes while respecting every vote. Lowering the voting age to 16 for school board elections empowers responsible young people to engage with their community and have a say in decisions that shape their education,” Lawson said.