Change is often what elections are about, and this one didn’t disappoint.

Pierce County voters were an unsentimental bunch, showing a ready inclination to abandon old allegiances for something – or someone – they deemed a better fit.

They scrapped a voting experiment after just one try, vented their frustration about a failed University Place development and vetoed the Pierce County Council’s choice for county auditor.

Off-year elections usually attract a smaller but more engaged portion of the electorate. Tuesday’s election was no exception, with two statewide measures drawing the faithful from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Meanwhile, the ballot carried no big-ticket races to rouse casual voters.

The result was disastrous for ranked choice voting proponents. They simply couldn’t convince the tried-and-true voters that RCV deserved another go.

Despite having approved RCV twice, invested thousands of dollars in its implementation and used the system only once, voters resoundingly said they are through with it.

These were voters long accustomed to the tradition of a primary followed by a general election offering a choice between two leading candidates. They understand how that system works, despite the frustrations and compromises it involves. The same could not be said for RCV.

These are voters who also had seen many a ballot with Dale Washam’s name on it, and they knew that he never stood a chance until RCV came along. His election as Pierce County assessor-treasurer – and the nightmare of a boss he has become – has convinced many a voter that primary elections matter.

Voters also decided they are done with University Place Mayor Linda Bird, who has been on the city council since its inception in 1995. Fairly or not, she became a focal point for disgruntlement stemming from the achingly slow progress at Town Center, the city’s public/private development. Her ouster is a big deal in University Place. Fortunately, a majority of the council still appears committed to doing something coherent with the Town Center property. The last thing University Place needs is a large part of its core abandoned to a hodgepodge of fast-buck developers.

Pierce County Auditor Jan Shabro, appointed by the County Council earlier this year, also may be on her way out. On Wednesday, she was losing to Tacoma City Councilwoman Julie Anderson in what will be the county’s last RCV race. The results could be seen as much as a rebuke of the council’s appointment – it passed over a highly qualified elections official – as an embrace of Anderson’s nonpartisan message.

Her election would create a vacancy on a city council that will have seen plenty of it by the time all is said and done. Three new council members were elected Tuesday. What’s more, Anderson’s fellow councilwoman, Marilyn Strickland, could be headed to the mayor’s chair if she maintains her razor-thin lead over opponent Jim Merritt. In all, six of the nine council seats could turn over.

The Pierce County political landscape is in for significant change. This may have been an “off-year” election, but it wasn’t a minor one.