RCV’s failure to launch in DC
by Harry Roth
When voters in six states rejected ranked-choice voting (RCV) in November 2024, DC voters chose to go in the opposite direction. Initiative 83 passed overwhelmingly with 72.89% of the vote with the help of left-wing groups like Unite America, which contributed more than half a million dollars to the effort. While the initiative mandated both open primaries and RCV, the DC City Council reluctantly funded only the RCV portion.
Seeking to pause this rollout, Councilmember Wendell Felder introduced emergency legislation late last year to delay implementation of RCV. The bill would have required the Board of Elections to conduct a needs assessment to determine whether DC was truly ready. Unfortunately, the bill failed by a vote of 8-5, falling short of the supermajority of nine votes required to pass.
The first true test of whether the city is ready will come during the upcoming June 16 primary. However, a recent survey conducted by Opportunity DC showed that 43% of voters were unaware of the change. In response, the DC Board of Elections is spending $50,000 on a voter education campaign ahead of the primary, while outside groups are also spending money to educate voters.
The clock has already started ticking, as the Board of Elections has begun mailing ballots. And since the RCV tabulation process cannot begin until all the votes are received, the combination of RCV and mail-in voting could lead to delayed results. Voters unfamiliar with the new ballots may end up making mistakes, and the additional time required to fill them out could also result in longer lines at the polls.
Another significant threat is ballot exhaustion. Whether voters intentionally rank only one candidate or do so by mistake, they risk having their ballots eliminated. If no candidate earns more than 50% in the first round, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and those votes are redistributed based on next-choice rankings. When voters have not ranked any remaining candidates, their ballots become exhausted and are eliminated.
Unless Congress steps in to repeal the measure—or voters experience Alaska-like regrets and vote to overturn it—our nation’s capital is stuck with RCV for the foreseeable future. But whether the system survives long term or not, one thing is clear: the rollout is not off to a great start.