Note: This was originally posted on March 17, 2023.
Resolution to Reject Ranked Choice Voting
WHEREAS, Ranked Choice Voting has proven to be cumbersome and confusing to voters when it was used briefly in Pierce County, WA and more recently in Alaska, and
WHEREAS, ranked choice voting does not accurately represent one person, one vote (allows for multiple choices as well as possible run offs), and
WHEREAS, the implementation of ranked choice voting in Pierce County resulted in voters receiving two ballots, one traditional ballot for state races and one rank choice ballot for local races; the election office processed these as if there were two different elections at one time, and
WHEREAS, in ranked choice voting, there are a variety of methods that could be used in calculating the outcome resulting in inconsistency, and is highly dependent upon algorithms in the program making accurate auditing very difficult, and
WHEREAS, fiscal notes for HB 1156 and HB 1722 in 2021 reveal the costs of using this new method as very expensive to implement, and estimates for the cost of voter education from $75,000 to $100,000 per county, up to $3.9 million just to teach voters how to vote this confusing (and potentially unfair to candidates) system, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED that Ranked Choice Voting be prohibited from being used in any elections in the State of Washington.
Approved by the Spokane County Convention Delegates March 2, 2024
To be submitted upon approval to the Spokane County Commissioners, Spokane County Auditor, Washington State Republican Party, the Washington State Legislature, Secretary of State and State Auditor.
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE RESOLUTION