This bill amends RCW 68.52.155 to change how cemetery district commissioner elections are run. Under the amendment, cemetery district elections must conform with general election laws but there is no primary to nominate candidates; all persons who file and qualify will appear on the general election ballot. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes for each commissioner position is elected. If only one person files and qualifies for a specific commissioner position, that person is deemed elected and that position is not placed on the ballot. Vacancies on a board of cemetery district commissioners are to be filled as provided in chapter 42.12 RCW. This is a procedural change to election law for cemetery districts; it does not create a new crime or change penalties. It affects cemetery districts, boards of cemetery district commissioners, and the officials who administer general election laws. The excerpt does not include an effective date, does not define terms such as "file and qualify" or "general election laws," and does not reproduce the vacancy-filling procedures from chapter 42.12 RCW. The bill was prefiled on 12/16/25, read for the first time on 01/12/26, and referred to the Committee on Local Government.

If enacted, county election officials and cemetery districts will stop holding a separate primary to nominate cemetery district commissioners and instead place every qualified candidate directly on the general election ballot, unless a seat has only one filer, in which case that person is automatically declared elected and the race is removed from the ballot. That will likely reduce the number of elections steps and related administrative work and costs for election offices and for small cemetery districts, change how candidates campaign (no primary to get nominated), and mean boards of cemetery commissioners are chosen by plurality at the general election. Vacancies will continue to be filled under the existing procedures in chapter 42.12 RCW. Key implementation details are missing from the excerpt—there is no effective date and terms like “file and qualify” and the specifics of the vacancy process are not included—so election officials and cemetery districts may need clarification before changing procedures.