DC voters can rank both candidates they want elected to the two at-large Council seats this November. But their ballot will ultimately count toward only one of them. That leaves a problem unresolved as voters prepare to choose two citywide representatives.
On Nov. 3, Democratic primary winner Oye Owolewa, independent incumbent Elissa Silverman, Republican Darrell Green and Statehood Green candidate Darryl Moch are competing for two at-large seats, one of which the DC Home Rule Charter reserves for a non-Democrat.
Under the old voting system, voters could cast votes for two at-large candidates. The top two vote-getters won.
But Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) was designed to elect a single candidate. So, as RCV is implemented in the November election for the two at-large councilmember seats, even if a DC voter ranks all four at-large candidates, their ballot only counts once.
The Candidates for The Two At-Large DC Council Seats
| Candidate | Party |
|---|---|
| Oye Owolewa | Democratic |
| Elissa Silverman | Independent |
| Darryl Moch | DC Statehood Green |
| Darrell Green | Republican |
Two Seats, One Vote
Under the general RCV rules in the DC Code, the DC Board of Elections (DCBOE) counts the number one ranked candidate on each ballot. Then, the lowest-polling candidate is eliminated. Ballots supporting the eliminated candidate are assigned to the next-ranked choice. Once a candidate receives 50 percent or more of the total votes, counting stops and they are the winner.
But unlike in a single-winner contest, the at-large general RCV election does not stop when one candidate passes 50 percent. It continues until two candidates are left. That first winning candidate retains all of their ballots. Those ballots are excluded from future rounds, even if the voter ranked other candidates below the winner on that ballot.
Rank your favorite ice creams and watch the votes be counted in rounds
An Example
Consider a voter who ranks Candidate A first and Candidate B second. If Candiate A remains in the race through the final round, that ballot stays with him. Candidate B gets no vote from the ballot.
If Candidate A is ranked second, the ballot reaches him or her only if the first choice is eliminated. Once transferred to him, it is a vote for Candidate A unless he is eliminated in a subsequent round.
The problem is that once a ballot is used to select a winner of the first seat, it is done and will not be counted towards the election of the second councilmember. Every candidate ranked below the first winner on those ballots will not count towards the election of the second at-large councilmember.
Fix Failed
DC Council realized this was a problem. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D) identified the issue in a July 9 memorandum requesting emergency legislation for the Council’s July 14 meeting.
“Voters may not meaningfully participate in the selection of both At-Large members,” he wrote.
Mendelson’s proposed changes would have established two counts using the same ranked ballots. All ballots would first be counted to elect one member. That winner would then be removed from consideration, and all ballots counted again to choose the second member. In the second contest, each ballot would start the count with its highest-ranked candidate who had not already won.
The change, Mendelson said, would preserve the ballot design and require voters to rank candidates only once. He sought emergency action before the summer recess to allow implementation for November.
Mendelson withdrew his proposal in the face of objections to changing election rules during the middle of a campaign, as well as to altering the voter-approved initiative which established RCV.
The DCBOE also objected to the wording in the proposed legislation, Mendelson said. “Absent better language, we were not in a position to move forward,” Mendelson told councilmembers.
In a Washington Socialist commentary, Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America members Kurtis H. and Patrick Dalton warned that the system could privilege Democrats, if ballots supporting the (often favored) Democratic nominee become locked with that candidate, leaving those voters’ preferences for the other seat uncounted. In every at-large general election over the past ten years, the Democratic candidate received the highest vote total.
That usually means that one victor is a Democrat and another is independent. But this year, as RCV is set to make a unique impact on the at-large race, nothing is certain.
But because current RCV law uses a single count to elect two councilmembers, your ballot ultimately counts for only one at-large council seat –provided a candidate you ranked survives.
