A new initiative could dramatically change how we vote, and who votes when. The initiative’s organizing group, Make All Votes Count DC, filed the proposal in May and are trying to get it on the ballot for next year.
🗳️ Wait, What’s Ranked Choice Voting?
The initiative could change how votes in D.C.’s elections are tallied starting in 2026. Ranked choice voting lets voters rank candidates in order of preference.
So, if no one wins the majority, the bottom contender is dropped and votes are recalculated using voters’ next choice. It keeps going until there’s a candidate with a majority of votes. The hope is this will encourage voters to choose candidates they really support, rather than the ones they think will win.
🤔 Why Does This Sound Familiar?
Ranked choice voting was previously introduced in 2021 but was shot down by the D.C. Democratic State Committee who said it was too confusing. It said that in New York, this system perpetuated inequality because voters in rich neighborhoods used all their votes, while those in lower-income areas didn’t.
🔜 What’s next?
To move forward, the campaign will have to get signatures from 5% of D.C.’s registered voters, in at least five of the eight wards. Then, all voters would get to weigh in during the 2024 general election. But the initiative’s got some powerful enemies, namely both the Democratic and Republican parties in D.C.
🔎 Between The Lines:
If the initiative passes, it would go into effect before the 2026 elections which include both the mayoral race and the chairman race.
But … it may not even get there. We talk with City Paper’s Alex Koma about who is for the initiative and who wants to stop it.
