Tallied Vote
When the voter selects a candidate that has not been eliminated, without over voting the ranking to be counted, the vote is cast and tallied for that candidate.
Remaining Candidate
A candidate that has NOT been defeated.
Defeated Candidate
A candidate that HAS been eliminated.
Skipped Ranking
When a voter chooses to NOT select a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot or write-in a candidate name in one or more of the available rankings.
Over Vote
When the voter selects more than one candidate as their first choice or any subsequent choice that is to be counted, the vote is nullified and tallied as an over vote.
Under Vote
When voter skips all rankings, with no first, second or third choice candidate or write-in selected, the vote is nullified and tallied as an under vote.
Exhausted Vote
When the first, second and third choice selections made by the voter in the RCV contest have been eliminated, the vote is nullified and tallied as exhausted.
Nullified Vote
Over Votes, Under Votes and Exhausted Votes are considered nullified RCV votes and are not utilized to determine the 50% plus one number of votes needed to win.
Tally of Votes for Ranked Choice Voting Contests
Initially, the first choice votes in the ranked choice contest are tallied. If a candidate receives more than half of the first-choice votes cast (50% plus one), that candidate wins. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the candidate with the fewest first choice votes is defeated.
Next, the votes that had been cast for the defeated candidate are then recast for the next choice remaining candidate selected on those ballots; or until the vote is nullified, if no subsequent choice is for a remaining candidate. This process continues until a candidate has received more than half of the votes cast or only two candidates remain. If two candidates remain, the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner.
Tally of Write-In Votes
As per ORS 254.500, Write-In votes will be tallied together as a single selection. After fully applying the RCV process, individual Write-In votes will only be tallied when the following requirements are met:
- the Write-In selection receives the highest number of votes cast; or
- no candidate whose name is printed on the ballot receives 50% plus one or the majority of votes cast.
After all Write-In votes are tallied individually, if a Write-In candidate receives more votes than the top candidate whose name is printed on the ballot, the Write-In candidate may accept the elected position in accordance with ORS 254.548.
If the top Write-In candidate receives less votes than the top candidate, but, more than the other candidate(s) whose names are printed on the ballot, the top candidate whose name is printed on the ballot shall be declared elected.
If the top Write-In candidate receives less votes than the top two candidates whose names are printed on the ballot, all RCV Write-In votes will be recast for the next choice remaining candidate or until the vote is nullified if no subsequent choice is for a remaining candidate.