Last November, more than 70% of Washington, D.C., voters supported Initiative 83, approving both open primaries and ranked choice voting for local elections. Earlier this month, the DC Council voted to fund the ranked choice voting component, which is now set to take effect in 2026. But this week, the Council declined to fund open primaries — leaving 75,000 independent voters without a say in who represents them.
Unite America issued the following statement:
“DC voters spoke loudly and clearly in the last election. They voted for open primaries and ranked choice voting — not one or the other. More than 200,000 of them cast ballots so that every voter would have the freedom to vote in every election that their tax dollars fund, and that candidates should have to win a majority to win office.
“It’s disappointing that the Council failed to fully uphold the will of DC voters. It’s even more disappointing that 75,000 independent voters still lack the right to vote in primaries — which are often the only elections that matter. We look forward to supporting the ongoing efforts of Make All Votes Count DC so that Initiative 83 is fully implemented.”
Background:
DC’s closed party primary system has long suppressed voter participation and competition. Nearly every consequential election is decided in the Democratic primary, which excludes the city’s 75,000 independent voters — roughly one in six registered voters.
Moreover, a majority of the sitting DC Council has at one point been nominated in low-turnout primaries without earning majority support. Initiative 83 was designed to address this “Primary Problem” by opening primaries to all voters and requiring candidates to win with majority support through ranked choice voting.
DC voters gave an unequivocal mandate to reform this broken system. Fully funding Initiative 83 is the only way to honor that mandate.
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Unite America is a philanthropic venture fund that invests in nonpartisan election reform to foster a more representative and functional government.
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