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Ballot Initiative Could Bring Ranked Choice Voting to D.C.

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In what is becoming a semiannual tradition, another ballot initiative looks set to drive D.C. politicos a bit crazy next year. With the tipped minimum wage dispute seemingly settled, the next controversy seems destined to center on ranked choice voting and open primaries.

A group of longtime local activists tell Loose Lips that they filed papers Wednesday to start the process of getting the newly dubbed “Make All Votes Count D.C.” initiative on the 2024 general election ballot, aiming to end D.C.’s system of closed primaries and institute ranked choice voting in all races in time for 2026. Ward 7 advisory neighborhood commissioner Lisa Rice is chairing this new committee backing the initiative, while veteran Ward 8 activist Philip Pannell (a long-standing backer of these electoral reforms) will serve as treasurer. Adam Eidinger, one of the lead organizers behind successful ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana and eliminate the tipped wage system, is also on board.

Much like some of those other ballot measures, the effort is designed to essentially circumvent the D.C. Council and go directly to the voters, particularly on the matter of ranked-choice elections. The idea has gained steam in recent years as a key method to prevent candidates from winning in crowded fields without a majority of the vote, yet legislation on the topic has foundered amidst opposition from the city’s Democratic establishment. There’s been considerably less momentum behind changing the District’s closed primary system, which forces pretty much anyone who wants a say in the political process to register as a Democrat, but Rice and Pannell chose to combine the issues in order to generate support among a broad swath of the electorate.

“We want elected officials to be accountable to a majority of voters,” says Rice, who is a registered independent and has also been active in national electoral reforms efforts. “We have people in office right now who were not put there by a majority of us, and it’s past time to change that.”

Rice’s group still has a long way to go to actually get the measure on the ballot (the Board of Elections needs to certify that it meets requirements for an initiative, any critics will get a chance to challenge that ruling, and then the six-month clock starts ticking for proponents to gather enough signatures to bring it to voters). But it could be transformative if it succeeds.



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