Candidate Selection in Washington. In primary elections, Washington uses a top-two system in which all candidates are listed on the same ballot and voters may choose any candidate. The two candidates receiving the most votes in the primary election advance to the general election. For offices in which there is more than one position with the same name, district number, or title, the positions are dealt with as separate offices to which candidates are elected in single-winner contests.
In current practice, the winners of single-member offices in all Washington jurisdictions are determined using the plurality system in which voters select one candidate and the candidate who receives the most votes is declared the winner. If there is a tie, the winner is chosen by lot.
Alternative Voting Methods. Several jurisdictions have adopted alternative methods of allocating votes to voters to determine which candidates advance out of a primary or win an election. These systems include:
Fargo, North Dakota, and St. Louis, Missouri use approval voting to elect city councilmembers. Municipalities in several states, including California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, and New York, have used RCV in municipal elections. Alaska and Maine use RCV in statewide and federal elections.
In 2022, Seattle voters defeated a referendum to use approval voting and passed a referendum to use RCV in municipal elections beginning in 2027. Pierce County used RCV for countywide offices in 2008 and 2009. Votes in Clark and San Juan counties rejected ballot measures to use RCV in 2022.
Public Outreach Campaign. Any jurisdiction using an alternative method of candidate selection must create a public outreach campaign to inform voters of changes. The campaign must include materials mailed to each voter's address of record, an electronic information portal or website explaining the new process, and a toll-free hotline for voters to ask questions related to the new method of candidate selection.
Materials and the information portal or website must be translated into languages required by federal law and spoken within the jurisdiction. Materials must be understandable by voters with limited English proficiency, limited literacy, and intellectual disabilities. The information portal or website and toll-free hotline must be publicly available for at least 12 months before the beginning of the new method of candidate selection.
Advertising Campaign. The jurisdiction must also undertake an advertising campaign during the 12 months before use of the alternative method of candidate selection. This campaign must include:
Public Education Campaign. The county election office must:
Instructional materials and events must provide an overview of the new method, contrast with the prior method, and explain that ballots may have multiple methods of selecting candidates for different jurisdictions. Events with local organizations serving persons with intellectual disabilities must occur on at least a monthly basis at locations well-served by public transit in the 12 months before use of the alternative method of voting selection.
Costs of the public education campaign, including materials, advertising, distribution, and translation costs, are solely the responsibility of the jurisdiction using the alternative method of candidate selection. The county election office must be reimbursed by the jurisdiction for costs it incurs.
Enforcement. Any eligible voter in a jurisdiction using an alternative method of candidate selection may bring action if the jurisdiction fails to comply with the public education and outreach requirements of the bill. If the court finds that the jurisdiction failed to comply with the public education and outreach requirements, it must order the jurisdiction to revert to its previous method of candidate election and may award financial damages as appropriate.
PRO: When any new voting system is introduced, completely different from what we've been doing for decades, there's nothing requiring any voter education. Washington cannot leave voters behind. Washington elections must be transparent and not implicitly suppress voters by using systems they don't understand. Citizens who are not fluent in English or who are intellectually disabled will struggle to vote in a new way. Some requirements in the bill are too proscriptive - counties know what work for them, and they should not all be required to use TV as an outreach medium if they know it will be ineffective. A 12-month period may be too long, as voters may use the new method for voting on existing systems and not have their votes counted properly.
OTHER: Voter education is needed in jurisdictions going through fast changes to their systems. We are concerned about the message this sends to community members who have worked hard to change their voting systems to be more representative and have tried to educate their communities about what ranked choice voting really is. It's hard that all this work could be tossed away because of what the local jurisdiction does or fails to do with their outreach.