PORT ANGELES – Instant runoff voting could fix what’s broken with Clallam County elections, or it could be an idea whose time never may come.
Depending on your viewpoint, you’ll vote yes or no on Amendment 1 to the county charter in the Nov. 6 general election.
That question, and three other proposed changes to the Clallam County Charter, were the focus of a Tuesday forum hosted by the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.
Members of the charter review commission spoke for or against the amendments.
Tom Shindler spoke in favor of instant runoff voting, in which voters mark their first, second, and third choices – or more – if more than two candidates run for a county office.
Washington’s secretary of state has not yet certified instant runoff voting, meaning it cannot now be used.
The charter change, though, would authorize county commissioners to adopt the system if and when it is certified and affordable.
Instant runoff voting would end the need for primary elections, Shindler said, and would eliminate the “spoiler” effect of voting for a third-party candidate.
“The voter needs do nothing but rank the candidates,” Shindler said.
“The counting does the rest.”
