Program date: Oct. 18, 2024
Air date: Oct. 21, 2024
From the City Club of Eugene:
Last May Eugene voters considered adopting Star Voting, a new form of balloting for City offices. They defeated it nearly 2 to 1. Now all Oregonians are being asked to adopt a similar but different form of voting in primary and general elections for federal and state executive offices: Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Ballot Measure 117 would not affect state legislative elections, which would continue to use plurality voting.
Two states (Alaska and Maine) have already implemented RCV for some statewide races and nationwide some sixty local elections are decided by RCV, including Benton County Commissioner elections and Corvallis City Council elections here in Oregon. Supporters of the measure have argued that ranking candidates according to your preference instead of only voting for one individual eliminates the problem of voting for the lesser of two evils. They also argue that candidates will need to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters to be elected. Opponents’ concerns include that voters will find that filling out a RCV ballot will be too confusing, and that it will make running elections more expensive and delay election results.
The City Club of Eugene has invited representatives of both campaigns to present their case to our community and help voters better understand the measure before casting their votes. This forum is moderated by KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk.
Speakers:
Melanie Billings-Yun is a member of the League of Women Voters of Oregon and chair of the Portland League of Women Voters’ ranked-choice voting team. Previously, she was co-chair of the Portland Charter Commission, which crafted the ranked choice voting electoral system that was approved by Portland voters in 2022 and will be implemented this November. A retired professor, Melanie has taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Georgetown University School of Public Affairs, and Portland State School of Business. She specializes in international negotiation and cross-cultural collaboration. She founded and was senior partner of Global Resolutions, a consulting firm providing negotiation assistance and expertise to businesses, governments, and individuals around the globe.
Oregon Representative Edwin Diehl, House District 17, earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He founded and has been the president of Concept Systems Inc, and vice president of Motorized Precision, LLC. He is completing his first term as the elected Representative of Oregon House District 17.
Note: This program’s recording was edited for time constraints. The complete program is available as video on City Club of Eugene’s YouTube channel and as audio on the City Club of Eugene’s podcast.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m., on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, visit CityClubOfEugene.org.
