(The Center Square) – Alarms are going off in Spokane as state lawmakers consider aligning elections at various levels despite concerns from high-profile officials.
The Spokane City Council reviewed House Bill 1339 on Monday. If approved, the city and others could hold elections in even-numbered years. Research suggests that doing so would increase voter turnout, but some say the change could bury local issues beneath state and federal races.
Councilmember Michael Cathcart proposed a resolution opposing the change, citing an editorial by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton. According to The (Tacoma) News Tribune, the top election officials called the idea “a tragedy for civic engagement.”
“If you have a mayor running alongside a president, suddenly, it’s a ticket,” Cathcart said.
While local elections are typically nonpartisan, Cathcart argued that aligning them with other races would tie issues to the increasingly polarized state of federal politics. His resolution cites multiple studies on partisanship, echoing Hobbs and Dalton’s wish to protect local discourse.
Cathcart also raised logistical concerns. Spokane County uses a 14-inch ballot, but merging multiple elections would require more space, up to a 19-inch ballot or one with multiple pages.
If the county used a ballot with more than one page, voters would have to turn in both, regardless of whether they filled out the entire thing. Usually, election officials will mark races you skipped as an undervote, but failing to turn in that page altogether could count as a no-vote, Cathcart said.
He clarified that it’s possible to reconcile the no-vote, but the issue adds another layer of complexity.
According to The News Tribune, Hobbs and Dalton said the shift to even-numbered years could also impact staff funding and voter confidence in the outcome. They added that the change would lead to an “erosion of local media covering our city councils and school boards.”
“These things never stay as an option,” Cathcart said. “This isn’t to say anything against mail-in voting, but mail-in voting started as optional, and then it became mandated.”
Proponents of HB 1339 argue it could save money, but that depends on collaboration since several cities within a county could take different positions. The Legislature pushed a similar measure last year, but the proposal failed to pass after Hobbs and others testified against it.
Despite his reservations, Councilmember Paul Dillon said it’s “important” for the city to clarify its stance on HB 1339. He and Cathcart previously worked at a staff level within the Legislature, so they have some insight, but Dillon said other changes have also faced pushback.
“Voter preregistration [for teens], same-day voter registration, there was some pushback from the secretary of state, auditors and those things did become law,” Dillon said. “Not the same as this, but I think there’s a place for a healthy debate around this issue.”
The council doesn’t have a vote scheduled for Cathcart’s resolution yet, but Dillon hopes to do so over the coming weeks.
