| Deb Otis | FairVote |
DC voters approved ranked choice voting and semi-open primaries in a 2024 ballot measure, which passed with 73% support. The nation’s capital now uses RCV for all federal and local elections that have three or more candidates. This November, that means RCV contests for mayor, DC Council, Board of Education, delegate to Congress, and advisory neighborhood commissions. Voters will have the option to rank the declared candidates and write-ins.
Supports both majority rule and minority voice
The voter experience is the same as in any RCV election – voters simply rank the candidates in order of preference. Their vote counts for their first choice, unless that candidate doesn’t have a chance to win.
With this system, most DC voters will see one of their top choices elected. In DC’s previous “vote-for-two” system, the same voters could elect both winners – with all other voters getting nothing. This form of two-winner RCV is considered “semi-proportional,” and it supports both majority rule and minority voice.