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Some elections in Washington could look different in coming years because of these 3 proposals

By Alec Regimbal, SeattlePI

|Updated
An elections worker sorts unopened ballots at the King County Elections headquarters on Aug. 4, 2020, in Renton, Wash. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

An elections worker sorts unopened ballots at the King County Elections headquarters on Aug. 4, 2020, in Renton, Wash. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

David Ryder/Getty Images

There are three proposals in the works that, if implemented, could dramatically change the way some elections in Washington are conducted.

Two such proposals are currently being discussed in the state Legislature. One would allow each county to implement what’s called ranked choice voting. The second would restrict general elections from being held in odd years after 2028.  

The third could move Seattle to a system called approval voting. Advocates for approval voting hope the question of whether Seattle makes the switch will end up as an initiative on this year’s general election ballot.

Below are breakdowns of each proposal.

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Ranked choice voting

For now, state law forbids ranked choice voting from being implemented in counties that don’t operate under a specific charter.

But a new bill introduced this year would amend the law to allow each of the state’s 32 counties — along with the cities, towns and special districts within those counties — to make the switch if they want to.

State Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Puyallup, the bill’s author, said during a public hearing last month that ranked choice voting would make elections at all levels more efficient.

“If this bill is enacted, we’re going to have a better and more transparent process,” he said.    

Here’s how it works: Voters rank candidates in order of preference. Then, on election night, the votes are tabulated, and if one candidate receives more than 50% of all first-choice votes, they win the election.

But if that doesn’t happen, the election will be determined after a series of rounds. In each round, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes will have their votes reallocated to whichever candidate those voters picked as their second choice. This process repeats until one candidate receives more than 50% of the votes.

An elections worker opens ballots at the King County Elections headquarters on Aug. 4, 2020, in Renton, Wash. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

An elections worker opens ballots at the King County Elections headquarters on Aug. 4, 2020, in Renton, Wash. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

David Ryder/Getty Images

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Ranked choice voting is gaining popularity across the U.S. Major cities such as New York City, Minneapolis and San Francisco already use the system in certain local elections. Maine uses it to elect state officers.

Last year, the King County Council tabled a proposal that would have made ranked choice voting the system used to elect county officers. The council said it would take up the issue again this year.

Proponents of ranked choice voting say it enables voters to fully express their preferences. Voters no longer need to decide between candidates they want to win and candidates they think can win.

Advocates also say ranked choice voting encourages more people to run, gives long-shot candidates a better chance of winning and could result in more positive campaigning among candidates because they’re no longer competing for a single vote.
 
However, opponents say the system is costly and might seem too complex for voters, which could result in a high number of invalid ballots and a drop in overall turnout.

Pedersen’s bill passed out of Washington’s State Government & Elections Committee on Jan. 26. The vote fell along party lines. The bill is currently awaiting a second hearing in the state’s Ways & Means Committee.

Even-year elections

A general election is held every November in Washington.

Normally, voters cast ballots for federal, state and county officials in even-year general elections, and for city, town and special district officials — such as school board members and fire chiefs — in odd-year general elections.

By and large, voter turnout in even-year elections is much higher than it is in odd-year elections. Statewide turnout for the 2020 general election was 84%, while statewide turnout for last year’s general election was 39%.

State Rep. Mia Gregerson, D-SeaTac, said figures like those are what prompted her to author a bill that would move most odd-year ballot items to even-year general elections.

“The statistics show over and over again that when you align your city or your state with even-year elections, you get almost double the number of folks participating in the process,” she said during a public hearing last month. “I think we all agree that the more people who participate, the better results we have, regardless of who the candidates are.”

Election workers load ballots into a sorting machine on Election Day at the King County Elections office in Renton, Wash., on Nov. 3, 2020. Americans were voting under the shadow of a surging coronavirus pandemic to decide whether to reelect Republican Donald Trump, one of the most polarizing presidents in U.S. history, or send Democrat Joe Biden to the White House. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

Election workers load ballots into a sorting machine on Election Day at the King County Elections office in Renton, Wash., on Nov. 3, 2020. Americans were voting under the shadow of a surging coronavirus pandemic to decide whether to reelect Republican Donald Trump, one of the most polarizing presidents in U.S. history, or send Democrat Joe Biden to the White House. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images

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If approved, the bill would phase out odd-year general elections in every county by 2028. Afterward, voters would elect most, if not all, of their federal, state, county, city, town and special district officials in even-year elections only. Votes on state initiatives and referendums would also be restricted to even years.

Votes on levies and tax increases, as well as special elections — such as recalls and elections to fill vacancies — could still happen in odd years.

During public testimony in the bill’s initial hearing, opponents argued that removing the public’s ability to vote on state initiatives and referendums in odd years violates Washington’s constitution. They also argued that the bill makes legislative bodies less accountable to the public, as voters will have to wait until even years to facilitate any changes to those bodies at the ballot box.   

The bill passed out of the state’s Government & Tribal Relations Committee — also along party lines — on Jan. 26. It was referred to the state’s House Rules Committee, where it will wait until House leaders choose to bring it to the floor for a vote. 

Approval voting

A group of self-described “representative democracy activists” hopes Seattle will implement a system known as approval voting for use in its citywide primary elections.

The group — called Seattle Approves — wants to put the question of whether the city should implement approval voting as an initiative on this year’s general election ballot. To do so, it needs to collect 22,600 signatures by the end of June.

One of the group’s co-founders, Logan Bowers, said signature gathering hasn’t started yet. After filing the initiative (Initiative Measure No. 134) on Jan. 27, the group now has to wait for the city attorney’s office to write a ballot title and description before it can begin collecting signatures.

Under this system, members of the public can cast a vote for each candidate they like. The candidates who get the most support from voters — in other words, the two candidates who are marked most frequently on ballots — will advance to the general election.  

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“It’s the single thing we can do most to make our elections more representative, more fair and, frankly, the one thing we can do to elect better leaders,” said Bowers, a former Seattle City Council candidate.  

Advocates for approval voting say the system eliminates vote splitting, an outcome in which multiple similar candidates split votes and ultimately lose. They also say the system makes politics less divisive, as candidates have to appeal to all voters, and say the system’s simple ballot format makes voting more accessible to non-English speakers and easier for voters who are short on time.   

And, perhaps most importantly, proponents say approval voting is the best way to gauge which candidates actually have the most widespread support. The Seattle Approves website sums up this point succinctly.

“If you’ve ever thought, ‘I’d like to vote for that candidate, but I’d be throwing away my vote,’ you’ve experienced how our current system doesn’t accurately measure voter support,” the website says.

So far, Seattle Approves has raised just under $193,000 for its initiative campaign. If the initiative makes it onto the general election ballot and is approved by Seattle voters, the system will be implemented next year. The system is already used in St. Louis and Fargo, North Dakota.  

A previous version of this article incorrectly named the U.S. state the City of Fargo is in. It's in North Dakota, not Minnesota. 

Alec Regimbal is a politics reporter at SFGATE. He graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. A Washington State native, Alec previously wrote for the Yakima Herald-Republic and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He also spent two years as a political aide in the Washington State Legislature.