DC voters to decide on opening primaries and ranked choice voting

WASHINGTON — With many races all but decided in the primaries, one of DC voters' biggest decisions is whether or not to approve Initiative 83.

The ballot measure as proposed would create semi-open primaries and implement ranked choice voting.

To vote in a primary election, the initiative would require a voter who is not affiliated with a party to request one of the partisan ballots for Primary Day.

That's where the "semi"-open status applies, because the Home Rule Act requires that primary elections in the District be partisan.

Ranked choice voting would allow voters to select and rank five candidates on a ballot.

When votes are calculated, a candidate immediately wins if they earn more than 50% of the votes. If no candidate reaches that threshold after the first choice votes are counted, the candidate with the least number is eliminated.

Then, the people who listed the eliminated candidate as their number one choice would have their second choice votes added to each remaining candidate's total, and the percentages would be calculated again. The process would continue until one person earns more than 50% of the votes.

“There are people like me...you know, we vote on policy period," said Lisa Rice, who proposed Initiative 83.

In 2017, she changed her voter registration status from Democrat to Independent.

"I didn't realize that I couldn't vote in the primaries. And so I had a choice, and the choice was either join a political party--[rejoin] the Democratic Party -- [or] fight for my right as a taxpayer," she said.

She decided to fight and helped to devise Initiative 83.

Approximately 17% of voters in DC are registered as independents -- totaling more than 76,000 people, according to the DC Board of Elections. The majority of District voters are registered Democrats.

“History tells us in DC that the person who wins in the Democratic primary is the person who wins in general," Rice said. "What we want to do is be involved in the election that matters to all of us."

Rice also points to the fact that primary elections are taxpayer-funded, so she said, “If taxpayers are paying for it, then let us vote in it."

When it comes to ranked choice voting, proponents like Rice believe it would help avoid situations where a winning candidate enters office with less than majority support.

Rice said last June's Democratic primary election for the Ward 7 Councilmember serves as a case study in when ranked choice voting can be particularly valuable. 

There were 10 candidates on the ballot, and the winner (Wendell Felder) came away with 23.69% of the votes. His closest challenger earned 20.22% of the votes.

"Wouldn’t it be great for them to go into that office with over 50% support? I think that it's a win, win," Rice said.

There is staunch opposition to Initiative 83, though -- notably from the Democratic Party.

"No to open primaries. No to ranked choice voting," said Stuart Anderson, who serves as the Second Vice Chair of the Ward 8 Democrats. "We don't believe that instituting either or both helps legitimize the electoral process."

On the contrary, he and the party believe ranked choice voting could confuse voters and belabor the process -- on the front and back end of an election.

“We know that less than 50% of the voting population is voting," Anderson said. "We should be spending money on trying to figure out how do we get these people to the polls -- as opposed to trying to create systems that make it more cumbersome for those who are already coming to the polls.”

He also said primaries are a time for members of a party to decide who they want to represent them -- not for the entire community to weigh in.

“The primary is designed for the leadership to come together and decide… do we want to support this person? It's for the party to say -- not for independents or other individuals," Anderson said.

The Democratic Party has even tried to block Initiative 83 in the courts -- to no avail.

Some voters support half of the measure and are struggling to decide how they want to vote.

“You may really support one thing and really not the other, and you’re kind of torn between do I go on this or do I not, so I think it should be separate," registered Democrat Bettina Hager said.

Rice said their team believed the two parts were powerful together.

“Both speak to...making politicians work harder for us and being able to hold them accountable," she said.

If the ballot measure is passed, the DC Council still has to approve the funding for it. The DC Board of Elections estimates that it will cost them $1.5 million over four years to provide the education and process changes necessary to successfully implement the changes.

Other cities and states across the country have switched to open primaries and ranked choice voting.

In New York City -- another city where Democrats dominate politics -- they have tried ranked choice voting (RCV) for a couple elections. 

Maine has been using it for years, and the MIT Election Lab has been studying its implementation. They found that RCV decreased voter confidence and increased the amount of time it took to vote. However, they said on a positive note for RCV's proponents --they found that more people voted for non-major party candidates.

Proponents also claim that RCV promotes more civility in elections.

"My favorite part is when we get to when this is implemented and how candidates will interface with community," Rice said. "Based on what we've seen across the country, we find that candidates, like the level of civility rises, the backstabbing lowers."

She pointed to campaign ads with two candidates on screen asking voters to choose them as their one and two -- in both Maine and NYC.

The MIT Election Lab's study on Maine casts doubt on the civility assertion, saying they found that negative spending increased after RCV was implemented.

Even with these examples, some experts said that jurisdictions that have changed to RCV need to let it play out for a few more election cycles before its actual impact and efficacy can be studied.

What voters think about Initiative 83

“I’m definitely for ranked choice voting. I think that opens up a lot more alternative options and opens up more choices for voters generally," registered Democrat Navin Vembar said. "When it comes to open primaries. Generally I’m not sure how well open primaries work when it comes to disrupters coming in...[but] I'm going to vote yes on it."

Bettina Hager, also a registered Democrat, said she, too plans to vote "yes."

“Also the frustrating thing for some of the people that I talk to is that it doesn’t seem like you have much of a say of who’s in power, because the Democratic party is so powerful and so strong that whoever they pick is going to be the person, and there are a lot of people who don’t like that," Hager said. "They think the city needs change. It’s very hard to make change when you have such a powerful party. I’m a Democrat, just saying. But I think there are a lot of issues the city is facing that people think if we could try new things, we may have different results.”

Another group of voters wandered up to the sign, saying they weren't exactly sure what the measure would do and felt they needed to do more research. They scanned the QR code to read more into it.

“I don't think it's the best solution on either side, but I do think it's some manner of change. And  I think the city could use some manner of change,” Harrison Spurzem, who newly registered to vote Democrat in DC, said.

What DC Councilmembers think of Initiative 83

WUSA 9's Jess Arnold reached out to every councilmember to get their thoughts on the ballot measure. These are the ones who provided a response.

Council Chair Phil Mendelson said in a statement, "I don’t support the Initiative that’s on the ballot this November. I think it’s going to make elections take longer, be confusing to many voters, and I think the net result will not be better government. I also resent initiatives that come to us from out of state interests.”

At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson provided the following statement:

“Ranked-choice voting is a method I support and believe would be beneficial to the District. When I introduced the Voter Ownership, Integrity, Choice, and Equity (VOICE) Amendment Act of 2021 I wanted to offer the District a way to improve the general election process. If there is determined to be a fiscal impact to implement I-83, then I will support the funding as needed. I hope voters will educate themselves on the initiative and give it full consideration.”

Councilmember Parker is quoted as saying “My sense is people are voting for ranked choice voting, and the open primaries bit has kind of been tucked in there and a lot of people aren’t as aware of it."

In the WCP article, he adds that if the measure ends up passing, the Council should find a way to make it happen -- but they could get creative.

Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George's team said that she is personally voting "no" on I-83 because of the open primaries component, but she will respect the will of the voters as a Councilmember whichever way it should go.

Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin said he supports Initiative 83 and would not provide further comment at this time.

Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau's team said she is not commenting on the measure at this time.

Rice believes many of the Councilmembers are waiting to see how people vote before revealing their stance.