Hazel Thomas, the Ward 5 committeewoman to the D.C. Democratic State Committee, has been involved in District politics for decades, but concerns about the effort to change the District’s electoral system, known as Initiative 83, has fueled much of her recent activism.
“People need to be informed about this initiative to make intelligent decisions,” said Thomas, 75, who has served as the vice chairwoman of the Ward 5 Democrats and is a past president of the DC Federation of Democratic Women. “They need to know about the referendum of this magnitude.”
As proposed, Initiative 83 would implement ranked-choice voting and allow for independent District voters to cast ballots in open primaries.
From now until Nov. 5 – Election Day – Thomas and hundreds of thousands of District voters will vote on Initiative 83, ultimately deciding the fate of the city’s electoral system.
What is Ranked-Choice Voting and How Will it Work?
With ranked-choice voting, voters may rank up to five candidates by preference. After every voter’s first-choice vote is counted, the candidate receiving the fewest votes will be eliminated.
Each voter’s ballot will count for the remaining candidate, until one candidate wins with a majority of the votes.
Ranked-choice voting is used in various jurisdictions including Takoma Park, Maryland; Arlington, Virginia; Oakland, California; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Some states such as Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon have ranked-choice voting in the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election.
With ranked-choice voting, independent voters will be able to participate in open primaries. They will not need to be registered members of a political party to participate in that party’s primary.
If passed, ranked-choice voting and opening the primary elections to independent voters would start in the District’s 2026 election cycle.
‘If It Ain’t Broke, We Don’t Need to Fix It‘
Thomas has serious concerns about the electoral changes.
“From my perspective, the most important issue is allowing non-Democrats to vote in a ‘qualifying primary,’” she told The Informer. ”The largely Black Democratic leadership will be undermined and the Black vote in D.C. will be diluted. We support any registered voter’s right to vote, but the 22% independents should not dominate the outcome of 78% [of the electorate].”
Thomas also voiced concerns about the money for Initiative 83 that has been raised outside of the District.
“It’s also imperative that we follow the money,” said Thomas, co-convener of the Ward 5 Leadership Council. “Billionaires from outside D.C. have donated over a half a million dollars to vote ‘yes,’ because they want to control D.C. politics as we move closer to statehood. This initiative is not being driven by residents and is a form of voter suppression.”
Proponents of Initiative 83 argue that ranked-choice voting, and open primaries will increase the racial and ethnic diversity of elected officials in the District. Thomas questions that argument.
“Our elected officials are already diverse,” she said. “Ranked-choice voting is an unnecessarily complex and expensive. We don’t need ranked-choice voting to accomplish diversity. If it ain’t broke, we don’t need to fix it.”
Initiative 83 has gained the support of such leaders as D.C. Council members Christina Henderson (I-At Large) and Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3) as well as business leaders such as Busboys & Poets owner Andy Shallal and community leaders such as Philip Pannell, executive director of the Anacostia Coordinating Council.
The proposer of Initiative 83, known organizationally as “Make All Votes Count” is Ward 7 resident Lisa D.T. Rice and Pannell serves as the treasurer.
Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner Salim Adofo has also embraced Initiative 83.
“I think that the opportunity to include independents in the primary whether it be Republican, Green Party, Libertarian, or whatever party it is, is important,” Adofo said. “Having people be able to get the majority of the vote is important because then you would need to campaign to the majority of your constituency and not just the small segment.”
However, Deidre Brown, a leader in the Vote No on 83 organization said if Initiative 83 becomes law, Black voters would be hurt the most.
“The Initiative would affect how people of color votes are tabulated,” Brown, 53 said. “It will also affect how they are discarded.”
Brown said the proponents of Initiative 83 have not done a good job explaining the ramifications of the process.
“It is possible that in ranked-choice voting, you would have to vote for five candidates in order for it to be recorded,” she said. “Let’s say you only voted for one candidate and ignore ranking the others. There is a good chance your ballot will be thrown out.”
Brown said the District’s primary system should remain in place, noting that the Home Rule Charter calls for political parties and primaries.
“If you are an independent and want to change your party affiliation, you can do so on the day of the election,” she said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), the D.C. Democratic State Committee and many labor groups have come out against Initiative 83.
“I will be voting ‘no’ on the Initiative,” said Bowser. “We certainly shouldn’t be asking the voters to vote on two different topics at the same time, in the same question [and] I am totally against ranked-choice voting.”
