Thread by @nwprogressive

It was a very, very bad night for ranked choice voting in Washington State. #waelex

RCV campaigns are currently failing in Clark County, in San Juan County, and Seattle.

Let’d start with San Juan:

Proposition No. 3, concerning ranked choice voting for certain County officers

In Clark County:

Proposed Charter Amendment No. 10, Concerning Ranked-Choice Voting for County Elected Positions

And Seattle, where there was a two-part question which asked if Seattle should switch to an alternative voting method and whether it should be approval voting or ranked choice voting:

City of Seattle Proposition Nos. 1A and 1B
(Part 1 asked if there should be a switch)

The Seattle measure (Prop 1) could flip: it’s a close result right now and late ballots could change the outcome. Even so, Seattle voters don’t seem very happy with the Council’s decision to put an RCV alternative on the ballot alongside approval voting.

NPI’s research has found that ranked choice voting is popular in Seattle. But outside of the Emerald City, we have found far less support and enthusiasm.

San Juan County is one of the most liberal jurisdictions in the state, and voters there simply aren’t embracing RCV.

It seems like the best strategy for RCV might be to focus just on a pilot in Seattle only. Anecdotally, our team heard that the two-part question on this year’s ballot was extremely confusing. That setup resulted from the Council’s decision to put RCV up against approval voting.

A grassroots effort to bring forward an RCV-only measure in Seattle within the next couple of years (if the “No” side ends up prevailing in this election) could be a logical next move for democracy reform and voting justice advocates.