Shannon Singleton Secures Majority in Preliminary RCV Results

Shannon Singleton received more than 50% of the votes in this round of counting, according to preliminary ranked-choice voting results.

Because Singleton crossed the majority threshold in this round, counting stopped. Leading in a preliminary report does not mean the candidate will stay in the lead indefinitely — results are not declared final until all ballots have been counted and certified.

The contest uses ranked choice voting, in which voters can rank up to six candidates in order of preference. Election officials count the contest in rounds, first looking at voters’ Rank 1 choices. If any candidate receives over 50% of the vote, counting ends. If not, in each round the candidates with the fewest votes are defeated and their supporters’ votes transfer to the next choice on their ballots, continuing until one candidate gains over 50%.

'Your Voice Your Vote' Shannon Singleton running for Multnomah County chair

Batch Elimination Defeats Uncertified Write in and Sharon Meieran

Uncertified Write In and Sharon Meieran were defeated together in Round 2 through batch elimination, a process used when multiple candidates each have so few votes that there is no mathematical way for any of them to gain over 50%. Their supporters’ votes transferred to the next highest ranked choices on those ballots.

In preliminary results, “defeated” does not mean a candidate is permanently out of the contest. Every time the county releases a preliminary update, officials run the tabulation from scratch with all the ballots received so far. Batch elimination is a more concise way of counting those ballots and does not change the outcome of the contest.

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Why the Lead Could Still Shift Before Certification

Each preliminary update reflects only the ballots in hand at that moment. As more ballots arrive, officials rerun the full tabulation, and vote transfers from eliminated candidates can reshape the totals in later rounds. The full explanation of how the county tabulates ranked-choice contests and how batch elimination works is available through Multnomah County Elections.

The next milestone on record is the certification of results once every ballot has been counted.