Senate Bill 5373 modifies existing election law to give cities, towns, and many special purpose districts the option to move their regular local general elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. The bill adds a new legislative finding about lower voter participation in odd-numbered years, amends RCW 29A.04.330 and multiple municipal RCWs, and makes a series of procedural changes governing election timing, special elections, and transitional terms. Key procedural changes include a new subsection permitting jurisdictions to change to even-year regular elections by legislative ordinance (with two public hearings at least 30 days apart), by voter approval of a referred ordinance or charter amendment, or by voter initiative or charter amendment. The change must apply to all elected positions in the jurisdiction, requires a single transitional term for each office that is either one year shorter or one year longer as specified in the adopting action, and prescribes transition-back rules if a jurisdiction later repeals the change. County auditors are authorized to call certain special elections on specified February, April, primary, or November dates upon governing-body resolution, with specific deadlines for submitting those resolutions; emergency special elections to validate levies or bonds are allowed for certain disasters subject to timing limits. The bill states subsection (6) will supersede other statutes with conflicting municipal election dates. The bill also amends statutes for various forms of municipal government (including statutory commission, council-manager, second-class and unclassified cities), reorganization procedures, ward rules, and municipal judges. One amendment allows a city or town legislative authority to make the municipal judge an elective position with qualifications equal to those required for appointment and a nominal four-year term, subject to modification to comply with the transitional rules in RCW 29A.04.330(6). Several referenced amendments and a new section are not included in the extracted text, and one amended provision (RCW 35.23.051) is cut off, so full details of those changes and any implementing provisions or fiscal effects are not provided here.

If enacted, the bill gives cities, towns, and many special purpose districts a clear pathway to move all their regular local elections from odd-numbered years into even-numbered years, subject to required procedure: either a legislative-body ordinance with two public hearings 30 days apart, referral to voters, or voter initiative/charter amendment. That change would force each jurisdiction to set a single transitional term for every elected position that is one year shorter or longer than usual so elections thereafter fall in even years, requires jurisdictions to notify counties and meet a January 15 deadline in an odd-numbered year to start the transition, and lets county auditors call and combine precincts for certain special-election dates. Primary practical impacts fall on local elected bodies, county auditors, candidates, municipal courts, and voters. Local governments will need to run public hearings, draft and adopt ordinances or ballot measures, and specify transitional term lengths; county auditors will face new responsibilities scheduling and administering special or combined elections on the prescribed dates; candidates and incumbents may serve shorter or longer transitional terms and face different election timing; and voters in those jurisdictions will likely see their local races synchronized with even-year elections (the bill’s stated intent is to increase turnout). The bill also allows cities or towns to make municipal judges elective with four-year terms and requires the legislative body to set qualifying rules and share salary costs, but important fiscal impacts, details for some amended sections, and other implementing specifics are not included in the extracted text.