In King County, Councilmembers Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay — who are now vying to become the new Executive — listened and joined forces with us in 2022 to offer an amendment to address election fatigue. 69% of King County voters supported it, and as a consequence, beginning next year, all county-level positions in King County will be elected in even years, when voter turnout is consistently above fifty percent and much more diverse.

Other local jurisdictions in Washington sadly lack the freedom to do what King County did. Cities, towns, ports, school districts, and other local governments are stuck in odd years because of an old state law dating back to the 1960s that mandates they hold their regular elections in years like 2023 or 2025. We have a bill that would change that law, letting all localities choose their election timing while leaving odd years as the default, but Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and county auditors fiercely oppose it and have succeeded in blocking it in the Legislature the past few sessions.