While Democrats in reliably blue Washington, D.C, are all but set to win big in this November’s election, the fate of one ballot proposition remains unclear.
If passed, Initiative 83 would allow independents to vote in primary elections and bring ranked choice voting to D.C. Some Democrats, including big names like Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, are opposed to the proposition.
“I think ranked-choice voting is complicated and is a solution in search of a problem,” Mendelson told the Washington Post. Some opponents of ranked choice voting believe it is an unnecessary voting change that can lead to voter confusion and mistakes, leading to less political activity.
Support for the ballot initiative is mixed in the city council and it’s unclear exactly what some council members think of the proposal. In 2021, some lawmakers backed a proposal from council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large) which would have installed ranked-choice voting to D.C.
“I don’t know why they put these two very different things in one ballot initiative,” said council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who co-sponsored the ranked choice voting bill but says he’s undecided on I-83. “I definitely support ranked-choice voting. I don’t support open primaries. I don’t know what to do with this.”
“I’ve been a strong supporter of ranked-choice voting. But the ballot initiative is more than just that,” Council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1) said.
Henderson has been a vocal supporter of the new ballot measure. Both she and Council member Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3) support it.
“If we continue to have that level of competitiveness, we need to explore a different way of passing our ballots to ensure that all residents are having the opportunity to have their voices heard,” Henderson said, adding that it is unfair that Independents like herself cannot vote in primary elections “especially since my tax dollars are paying for an election I can’t participate in.”
Charles Wilson, chairman of the D.C. Democratic Party, sees the measure as a violation of D.C.’s home rule charter, which requires primaries to be partisan contests.
“The impact would dilute the voice of the Democratic Party in the District of Columbia,” he told the Post. “The initiative, that’s exactly what they want to do. People who are dedicated to the Democratic Party in the District of Columbia don’t like that, and don’t appreciate it.”
Lisa Rice, Ward 7 advisory neighborhood commissioner and an independent voter and organizer of the ballot measure, is not intimidated by the pushback from Democrats.
“What we find, not just here or in other places, is when you challenge the dominant party, when you challenge the establishment, they’re going to react,” said Rice.“They don’t like it.”
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Some, like Allen, have questioned why the ballot measure includes both ranked choice voting and independents being included in the primary. Rice said the organizers behind the initiative combined both entities because they both promote Democracy. She compared the exclusion of independents from primary elections to disenfranchisement. Rice said ranked choice voting avoids outcomes in which someone wins a race without winning the majority of votes.
“We do encounter people who are very gung-ho on one part and not so sure on the other,” Rice said. “What we do is talk about our strategy here is really to have politicians work harder for our votes, work harder for us.”