Initiative 83 was a voter-approvedballot initiative in Washington, D.C., that would permitranked-choice voting and open theprimary elections toindependent voters. It allows voters registered as “unaffiliated” to participate in primaries, which were closed to these voters prior to the passage of the initiative.[1] As of October 2024, D.C. had more than 80,000 unaffiliated voters.[2] The initiative was passed with 73% of the vote.
The initiative was officially proposed as theMake All Votes Count Act of 2024 by Lisa D.T. Rice and Philip Pannell, longtime activists and leaders of the Make All Votes Count D.C. campaign in May 2023.[3] On July 21, 2023, the ballot initiative was deemed "proper subject matter" by theDistrict of Columbia Board of Elections.[1] On August 23, the DC Board of Elections held its public hearing on the formulation of theshort title, summary statement, legislative text. At this hearing, the ballot initiative's short title was changed toRanked Choice Voting and Open the Primary Elections to Independent Voters Act of 2024.[4] On September 1, 2023, the final version of the short title, summary statement, and legislative text was published in the DC register,[5] which triggered a 10-day challenge period, where a DC voter could challenge the initiative. No challenge was timely filed.[6] On September 13, 2023, the DC Board of Elections accepted a request for anabeyance to delay the adoption of the Initiative 83 petition until January 2024.[6] On January 10, 2024, the proposer adopted the official Initiative 83 petition for ballot access.[7]
On August 1, 2023, theDC Democratic Party and its chairmanCharles E. Wilson sued D.C. MayorMuriel Bowser, the DC Board of Elections, and theGovernment of the District of Columbia believing they erred when Initiative 83 was determined to be “proper subject matter,” and they asked the court to permanently block the initiative from being implemented.[8] The lawsuit caused numerous complaints within the party.[9] The lawsuit was ultimately withdrawn on November 4, 2023.[10]
On August 31, 2023, a similar lawsuit was filed by theDC Democratic Party, its chairmanCharles E. Wilson, and former independent, At-Large candidate forD.C Council, Keith Silver,[11] which sought to challenge the initiative upon similar grounds as the previous lawsuit.[12] However, the challenge was filed one day too early,[13] on August 31, 2023, and was ultimately dismissed by the judge overseeing the failed lawsuit.[14]
On July 14, 2021,D.C. CouncilmemberChristina Henderson introduced theVoter Ownership, Integrity, Choice, and Equity (VOICE) Amendment Act of 2021,[15] which would have implementedranked-choice voting in Washington, DC. Co-introduced with a majority of D.C. Councilmembers, the bill had a hearing on November 18, 2021, where a stream of members of theD.C. Democratic State Committee testified against it.[16] The bill ultimately did not receive a vote and died in committee.[17]
Only 10 states have closed primary elections like the District of Columbia.[18] Because 76% of the voters are registered Democrat,[2] the winner of the November general election in most contests is decided in the Democratic primary in June. Independent voters are functionallydisenfranchised by not being allowed to participate in the primary that chooses the Democratic Party's mayoral candidate and other important races.[17] The campaign believes this amounts to voter suppression.[1] Initiative 83 will allow these voters to participate in the primary election without being required to join a political party. The initiative does not permit current members of political parties to vote in a different party's primary election.[19]
The campaign had until July 8, 2024, to collect the names, addresses, and signatures of 5% of the registered voters in Washington, DC, including 5% of the voters in 5 of the 8 wards.[7] Based on the April 30, 2024, voter registration statistics,[20] the campaign needed the signatures from 22,538 DC voters to achieve ballot access for the2024 general election ballot. The campaign issued apress release on March 22, 2024, stating they had collected 10,000 signatures from DC voters and were 1/3 from their goal of 30,000 signatures.[21] On July 1, the campaign submitted 40,000 signatures to the D.C. Board of Elections.[22] The petition survived a challenge period, which was from July 4 to 13.
Total Signatures Used to be Utilized for Random Sampling
Surplus Signatures
Number of Valid Signatures in Sample of 100
Decision with 95% Confidence
1
2,739
4,274
1,535
99
Accept
2
2,464
2,774
310
97
Accept
3
2,673
3,303
630
99
Accept
4
2,878
4,076
1,198
94
Accept
5
3,243
3,607
364
93
No Decision
6
3,092
3,995
903
100
Accept
7
2,815
3,250
435
98
Accept
8
2,635
2,494
-141
99
Reject
Citywide
22,538
27,773
5,235
Accept
In total, the DCBOE found 27,773 signatures to be valid,[23] the campaign passed the 5% validity threshold in 6 of the 8 wards, and the initiative was placed on the November general election ballot.[24]
In crowded elections with numerous candidates running for the same office, ranked choice voting ensures the winning candidate is elected with over 50% of the vote[25]
Independents should be able to participate in all taxpayer-funded elections[26]
In order to secure a voter's second choice, candidates are less likely to engage innegative campaigning[27]
Although the initiative passed overwhelmingly, the Council ultimately had apocket veto power over its implementation by witholding funding. On July 14, 2025, the Council voted 8-4 to approve funding forranked-choice voting but declined to fundopen primaries in the2026 elections.[30]
Ward results
Precinct results
Yes
