DCBOE Announces Initiative 83 Achieves Ballot Access for the November Election

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the D.C. Board of Elections confirmed that the Yes on 83 Campaign met the statutory requirements to place Initiative 83 on the November 2024 general election ballot. This is a momentous achievement for the campaign and will give DC voters – including the over 40,000 who signed petitions for Initiative 83 – the option to approve this measure on November 5th.

Initiative 83 would give nearly 75,000 disenfranchised independent voters—roughly 1 out of 6 District voters—the ability to vote in taxpayer-funded primary elections for the first time since Home Rule. Politicians would also have to earn over 50% support to win, through the proven reform of ranked choice voting. With ranked choice voting, successful candidates build broad coalitions and appeal to more communities, including communities east of the river, who are often ignored under the current system. Politicians would work harder for every vote.

“The YES on 83 campaign thanks the D.C. Board of Elections for their hard work validating tens of thousands of DC voters’ signatures,” said Lisa D.T. Rice, proposer of Initiative 83, elected ANC commissioner, and registered independent voter. “We are thrilled to bring a vote on Initiative 83 to the ballot and to let the people decide in November.”

The YES on 83 Campaign, formally known as Make All Votes Count DC and the sponsors of Initiative 83, submitted the legislative text on June 16, 2023, adopted the Initiative 83 petition on January 10, 2024, and over the last 6 months nearly 200 trained circulators spoke to tens of thousands of voters across all eight wards. From farmers’ markets to post offices, grocery stores to metro stations, circulators met voters where they were, ensuring information about Initiative 83 reached every corner of the District.

“The reforms outlined in Initiative 83 better reflect the will of all voters,” says Brian Strege, a Make All Votes Count DC Steering Committee member and Ward 8 ANC Commissioner. “With over one out of fifteen D.C. voters signing the Initiative 83 ballot access petition, we are confident this reflection will manifest at the ballot box later this year,” concludes Mr. Strege.

Should Initiative 83 be approved by a majority of D.C. voters in the general election on November 5, it will then need to be certified by the D.C. Board of Elections in early December. The Chairman of the D.C. Council would then transmit the law to the 119th Congress in January to begin the 30 legislative day review period and likely become law by early March 2025. The first election that would feature the reforms outlined in Initiative 83 would be the District’s primary election in June 2026.

For more information about the Yes on 83 campaign visit: www.YesOn83.org