A D.C. Democratic Party lawsuit is decidedly undemocratic
By the Editorial Board | August 11, 2023
The D.C. Democratic Party filed a lawsuit last week aimed at killing a ballot initiative that would improve elections in the District, opening city primaries to independents and implementing ranked-choice voting. The party’s legal maneuvering would deny D.C. residents a say over how elections are administered to defend a status quo in which local government is less representative — and therefore less responsive to the majority — than it could be.
The legal case is meritless. The D.C. Board of Elections determined on July 21 that the initiative, called the Make All Votes Count Act, is “proper subject matter” for a ballot referendum next year and that, if passed, the statute would be legal. D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb (D) agreed. Nevertheless, the city’s Democratic organization filed a 33-page lawsuit that rehashes claims the attorney general already rebutted. It opens by pointing out that Marion Barry might not have won the 1978 Democratic primary for mayor, defeating two other Black candidates, if ranked-choice voting had been in effect. That reasoning is based on a misunderstanding of how a ranked-choice system would work. It’s also not a legal argument.
The lawsuit claims that opening primaries to independents would curtail the First and Fifth amendment rights of Democratic Party members to associate with whom they want, arguing they don’t want the more than 86,000 D.C. voters who are unaffiliated with any party, out of about 527,000 total, to have a say in their primaries. Yet states such as Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts and West Virginia already have semi-open primaries. In fact, only a few states have a system as closed as D.C.’s.
The Democratic Party is also on the wrong side of the moral debate. Because the city is so Democratic, the winner of the November general election in most contests is decided in the June party primary. Independent voters are functionally disenfranchised by not being allowed to participate in the contests that choose their mayor and other officials. Permitting independents to vote in party primaries is particularly crucial in Washington.
Moreover, the primaries that determine who will run the District usually see low turnout, and winners often prevail in split elections with far less than 50 percent of the vote. Ranked-choice balloting would ensure winners have broad support. Under such a system, if no candidate in a particular race receives a majority after an initial count, the lowest-performing candidate gets dropped and the second choices of that candidate’s supporters are tabulated. The process continues until someone cracks 50 percent. This system has worked well — from the 2021 New York mayoral race to Alaska’s congressional contests last year.
The Democratic Party’s suit contends that ranked-choice voting “could ultimately suppress the voice and influence of voters of color for decades to come,” raising concerns about voter “confusion.” We have more faith in Washington’s voters, from all communities. Parents rank their preferences in the city’s school placement lottery, and the D.C. Housing Authority uses ranked preferences for public housing assignments.
FairVote, a group that advocates ranked-choice voting, has released research suggesting that the system tends to benefit candidates and voters of color. Winning Black and Hispanic candidates grew their vote totals between first and final ballot counts at higher rates than winning White candidates. Voters of color tend to rank more candidates than White voters do, keeping their preferences in the mix as multiple counts proceed. Ranking candidates also minimizes the chance of Black candidates dividing community support.
Takoma Park, Md., has used ranked-choice voting since 2007. Arlington experimented with it in a June 20 primary for the county board of supervisors. The ballot was easy to understand, and the election went well. The county race hinged on a fight over a housing density proposal. The top two finishers advanced to the general election. After the first ballot, the two leading candidates opposed more density. But after ranked-choice tabulation, one winner supported the plan and the other opposed it. This choice was more representative of how the community felt than the one voters would have faced if the county had used the traditional first-past-the-post system.
Arlington should continue experimenting with ranked-choice voting despite complaints from a small number of people. And the system should already be the norm in D.C. A few incumbent council members quietly blocked a ranked-choice voting proposal from council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large). A majority of members signed on as co-sponsors, yet the bill never got an up-or-down vote. Hence the need for a ballot initiative bypassing the D.C. Council.
A hearing on the Democratic lawsuit targeting the ballot initiative is scheduled for Nov. 3 — when it should be promptly dismissed.
