D.C. ranked – With the District’s June 16 primary set to be the first in D.C. using ranked choice voting, voters will be asked to rank up to five candidates in each race and understand how ballots are counted round by round until someone reaches a majority. The change follo
On June 16, D.C.’s primary election will run on a different kind of choice—one that forces voters to think beyond a single name on a ballot.
Ranked choice voting is making its debut in the District for that primary, after voters supported implementing it through a 2024 ballot initiative. The change comes with a new expectation at the voting booth: voters won’t just pick a preferred candidate—they’ll rank candidates in order.
D.C. Board of Elections Executive Director Monica Holman Evans explained the process in a video tied to the rollout. Her message is simple enough, but the stakes feel bigger. For many voters. this will be a departure from what they’re used to. and some council members pushed to delay ranked choice voting’s implementation until 2027. Their argument was that the Board of Elections needed more time to train the public and ensure the election would be run fairly.
That delay didn’t happen. Ranked choice voting is tied directly to Initiative 83, which voters passed with more than 72% of the vote in 2024. Initiative 83 also included a provision that would allow independent voters to cast ballots in D.C. primaries.
How voting will look for residents is part of the challenge. Ranked choice voting lets voters rank up to five candidates in a single race by order of preference. Voters can still choose just one candidate by ranking that person as their top preference, if they want.
But the rules matter. If a voter chooses to rank five candidates. they should not skip ranks—meaning a ballot can’t place a candidate in rank one and jump to rank three while leaving rank two blank. Voters also shouldn’t rank the same candidate twice, and they shouldn’t give two different candidates the same rank.
The D.C. Board of Elections provided examples of valid and invalid ranked choice voting ballots. using a format where candidates are listed by row and ranks are listed by column. Voters are instructed to fill in the first column for their top candidate. If they want to rank additional candidates. they should move column by column. filling in the bubble that matches their next preferred candidate.
Tabulating the votes is built around a majority requirement. Under ranked choice voting, a candidate must attain a majority of the votes to win. In the first round of tabulation, only voters’ first choices are counted. If no candidate passes 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Then the second choice of voters who ranked the eliminated candidate first is counted.
The process repeats until someone reaches a majority—eliminating the lowest vote-getter and redistributing the next preferences—round after round.
There is one contingency built in. If there is a tie at any point in the process, it’s decided by a coin flip. The Board of Elections says that scenario is “extremely unlikely.”
In D.C.’s June 16 primary. voters will be asked to make those rankings work—not just once. but through the mechanics of counting that determine who ultimately reaches a majority. For a city where the method is arriving after a fast-moving ballot initiative victory. the real test may be how smoothly residents can translate what’s on the paper ballot into a complete picture of their preferences.
District of Columbia D.C. primary ranked choice voting Initiative 83 Monica Holman Evans Board of Elections June 16 election rules tabulation independent voters