SB 400 Summary

• Allows municipalities and counties to adopt ranked choice voting for all local elected offices through ordinance, but only if the county or municipal legislative body votes to make it applicable.

• Establishes voting procedures where voters rank candidates as #1, #2, #3, and so on when three or more candidates run for an office; voters are not required to rank all candidates but cannot give any candidate more than one ranking.

• Implements a multi-stage vote counting process: first counts all #1 rankings, and if no candidate achieves a majority, eliminates the last-place candidate and redistributes their lower rankings to remaining candidates until someone wins a majority.

• Requires ballot and voting system modifications to accommodate ranking functionality, including specific instructions for paper ballots, ballot cards, optical scan systems, and electronic voting systems.

• Makes conforming amendments throughout Indiana election code to replace "count" with "tabulate" and define related terms for ranked choice voting procedures, effective July 1, 2018.