D.C.'s new ranked choice voting system is in limbo
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The D.C. Council could delay implementing ranked choice voting, angering supporters who want it in time for next year's election.
Why it matters: Next year's races are gearing up to be the wildest in decades. D.C. will pick a new mayor, potentially a new delegate to Congress, and we'll likely see some new council members, too.
State of play: Voters last year passed an initiative to implement ranked choice voting, and the council funded the switch, but it's not ready yet.
- Some council members want to wait.
- Council member Wendell Felder introduced emergency legislation to require what he called a "comprehensive needs assessment" to make sure the city can get the system ready in time.
Context: The all-important Democratic primary is next June.
The other side: Despite it being a time crunch, the head of the D.C. Board of Elections told Felder at a council hearing last week that it can make the deadline.
- "We've been asked to do the impossible in the past," said Monica Evans, head of the board.
But Felder wasn't convinced, repeatedly asking if Evans needed more time.
- Caught between people who want to scuttle ranked choice voting regardless of its passage last year, and proponents who want it implemented immediately, Evans told Felder: "I feel like I'm being set up to be the fall guy."
How it works: Ranked choice voting requires a candidate to get over 50% of support to win.
- Voters will get to rank their preferred candidates in each race.
- If a voter's #1-ranked candidate doesn't get 50%, their vote moves on over to their #2 candidate, and so on if needed.
- That process plays out until one candidate clears 50%.
Zoom out: New York City had its second ranked choice voting primary in June. Zohran Mamdani received 44% of the vote in the first round of vote counting and won the race with 56% after a third-place candidate had most of his votes go to Mamdani.
- National Democrats and activists are quietly lobbying to expand ranked choice voting into the presidential primaries in 2028, Axios' Holly Otterbein reports.
What's next: Felder would need to convince eight other council members on Tuesday to support his emergency bill delaying implementation.