D.C. Board of Elections

An animal advocacy group in Washington D.C. has submitted over 45,000 signatures for a ballot initiative (Initiative 86) to ban the sale of force-fed foie gras. The proposal targets duck livers produced through force-feeding, while non-force-fed foie gras would remain legal. The initiative requires 28,728 valid signatures to qualify for the November 2023 ballot, with a deadline of July 6 for submission.

The D.C. primary's first use of ranked choice voting has delayed final results, with election workers processing over 20,000 mailed ballots. Gary Thompson, chair of the D.C. Board of Elections, reported progress in tabulation and confirmed updates will continue daily until the final count.

Incumbents Zachary Parker in Ward 5 and Charles Allen in Ward 6 won their D.C. Council primary races with over 70% of the vote. Elissa Silverman led in the special election to complete Kenyan McDuffie’s term, but results remain pending due to ranked choice voting. Other races, including Ward 1 and at-large council seats, are expected to take days to finalize as mail-in ballots are processed.

D.C. voters are using ranked choice voting for the first time in the June 16 Democratic primary, allowing them to rank up to five candidates for each office. Proponents argue it addresses the issue of candidates winning with a small fraction of votes, while critics claim it confuses many voters.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) will debut in D.C.'s June 16 primary election, following voter approval of Initiative 83 in 2024. The system allows voters to rank up to five candidates per race, with winners determined by achieving a majority through sequential elimination rounds.