The D.C. Mobile Voting Coalition requested Tuesday the D.C. Council hold a hearing on a bill that would allow voting by smartphone, tablet or personal computer in city elections.
The Mobile VOTE Act is sponsored by Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and has the support of the majority of her colleagues, including Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. However, the bill sits in the council’s Committee of the Judiciary and Public Safety, chaired by Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), with no definite date for a hearing.
“We call on the council to hold a hearing on this bill,” said the Rev. H. Lionel Edmonds, senior pastor of the Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church in Northwest, during a press conference Tuesday on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building. “Voting rights are under attack across the country and Black voters are under attack everywhere. This bill will make it easier for residents in Wards 7 and 8 and those who have disabilities to vote.”
Edmonds pointed out polls that suggest 70% of District residents favor mobile voting. The Ward 8 Democrats have gone on record supporting mobile voting and the D.C. Democratic State Committee held a forum on the subject two months ago.