House OKs bill on nonpartisan election vote rules

Published 4:50 pm Thursday, March 7, 2013

OLYMPIA — The House has unanimously approved a measure that requires the top two vote getters in nonpartisan races to advance to the general election.

The bill passed Thursday and now heads to the Senate for consideration. Current election law already has that top two advancement requirement in place for partisan races. However, an exception has existed for Supreme Court justices, judges for court of appeals and superior court and for the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In those nonpartisan races, if a candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary, their name appears alone on the general ballot, meaning they were essentially elected in the primary.

The bill passed by the House removes that provision.