WHEREAS in 2025 a serious challenge facing the electorate nationwide and in Washington State is voter apathy and low turnout, and efforts must be undertaken to re-engage voters and inspire fairer, more representative elections with a wider pool of candidates;
WHEREAS Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference and automatically distributes the losing candidates’ votes in order of their support until one candidate has the majority of the vote, is a successful method that has been used for elections in the U.S. and worldwide for over a century and is today in over 60 jurisdictions in the U.S. including multiple states, territories, cities, and in military and overseas voting; and is pending implementation in 20 major cities in the United States at the time of this resolution;
WHEREAS Ranked Choice Voting leads to a more diverse array of candidates with a variety of backgrounds, political leanings, and at all funding levels, which allows minority and marginalized communities and voters at all points on the political spectrum the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice; reduces the “Spoiler Effect,” so voters can vote for their favorite choice of candidate without fear that their vote will be “wasted”; and as evidenced in the Democratic mayoral primary of New York City in 2025, levels the playing field for candidates running against the influence of large political and corporate funds;
WHEREAS Ranked Choice Voting is proven to increase voter participation by on average 10% by offering voters the opportunity to fully express their preferences and their priorities; forces candidates to abandon negative campaign tactics because they will need some level of approval from other candidates’ supporters as well as their own, and may even campaign together and back one another in the process; and is proven to save time and money for jurisdictions by eliminating the need for costly runoff elections;
WHEREAS Portugal v Franklin County confirmed that jurisdictions in Washington can adopt Ranked Choice Voting in order to comply with the Washington Voting Rights Act; and
WHEREAS the Washington Voting Options, Implementation, Compliance, Education, and Standards (VOICES) Act asks the Washington Secretary of State to research best practices for Ranked Choice Voting implementation and set statewide standards for implementation;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 31st Legislative District Democrats call on their Washington State representatives to support Ranked Choice Voting for elections at all levels in Washington and vote for the passage of the Washington VOICES Act in 2026.
Adopted by the 31st Legislative District Democrats on xx/xx/xxxx
Signed by,
Chair
