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Wide testimony for and against bill to set statewide standards for ranked‑choice voting
Summary
House Bill 1448 would create statewide standards and a work group to support local adoption of ranked‑choice voting; supporters urged the committee to provide guidance and education resources, while the Secretary of State's office warned of cost, auditing and accessibility risks.
House Bill 1448 would clarify state law to allow and govern the local use of ranked‑choice voting (RCV) in county, city, town, school district, fire district and port district elections. The bill removes a statutory mismatch that limits RCV’s use in general elections by changing the requirement that nonpartisan primaries must winnow candidates to two and replacing it with a top‑five process for jurisdictions that adopt ranking.
Connor Schiff, counsel to the committee, opened the staff briefing by explaining the statute changes and technical ballot rules the bill proposes. He said the bill would require ballots to permit voters to rank at least five candidates and would establish ballot‑counting rules that preserve portions of existing state law while allowing jurisdictions to implement ranked ballots for single‑winner and multi‑winner contests.
Representative Gregerson, the sponsor, framed the bill as an optional framework for local jurisdictions: “It doesn't mean they have to. There's nothing in…
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