Elections in the District of Columbia |
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The District of Columbia (a political division coterminous with Washington, D.C.) has had a system of direct voting since 1979, shortly after it gained home rule in 1973. Residents have the ability to place new legislation, or legislation recently passed by the city council, on the ballot for a popular vote. The district has three types of ballot measures that can be voted on in a general election: District Charter amendments, initiatives and referendums. In order to be placed on the ballot, supporters of a measure must gather signatures from registered voters. [1]
Since adopting this process, ballot measures have become a common part of the city's electoral system. As of 2022, [update] more than 150 different initiatives had been filed with the district, along with a significantly smaller number of referendums; of those, only 29 have met the required qualifications to be placed on the ballot. [2] [3] Ballot measures have been used to legalize politically contentious policies such as local term limits, abolition of the tipped minimum wage, [4] cannabis use, [5] and advancements in the District of Columbia statehood movement. [6]
Since the late 1800s, the residents of the District of Columbia have campaigned for control over their own affairs. In a substantial leap forward, the United States Congress passed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in 1973, which devolved some of its powers to the city. [7] Just a few years later in 1979, the newly formed city council passed the Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Procedures Act. [8] This act created a process of direct democracy in which residents could enact their own laws or repeal existing laws.
The prominence of ballot measures has allowed Washington, D.C., to lead the nation in social issues. In 2014, residents approved Initiative 71, which legalized cannabis for recreational use, making the district the third U.S. jurisdiction behind Colorado and Washington state. [5] The Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 made the city the fourth U.S. jurisdiction to decriminalize entheogens. [9] In 2022, voters approved Initiative 82, which eliminates the tipped minimum wage over five years, after an earlier initiative ultimately failed. It joined eight states in abolishing the practice. [4]
Residents have also used ballot measures to expand their voting rights and (by extension) campaign for admitting the District of Columbia into the Union as the 51st state. An initiative in 1980 directed the D.C. government to begin the process of moving towards statehood due to the stalled and limited-in-scope voting rights amendment. [10] Voters made the Attorney General for the District of Columbia an elected office beginning in 2014. [11] An advisory referendum in 2016 showed that nearly 90 percent of residents support statehood, and it directed the D.C. Council to make formal statehood petitions to Congress. [6]
District Charter amendments are changes to the District of Columbia Home Rule Charter, the law that established the D.C. government and its authority. [12] They require a majority vote to pass the D.C. Council, a majority of voters to approve the amendment, and then are submitted to Congress for a 35-business day congressional review period. If Congress does not pass a resolution of disapproval, the amendment is adopted. [13]
There are two types of referendums in the District of Columbia:
The D.C. government has concluded that approved ballot measures become self-enacting –meaning the government does not need to take action, such as an approving signature or proclamation, for the measure to take effect. [16] However, many approved ballot measures have been invalidated by either the D.C. Council or Congress, much to the frustration of residents.
The Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Procedures Act gives the D.C. Council the power to reverse voter-approved initiatives, as it did in 2001 regarding term limits and in 2019 regarding the tipped minimum wage. [17] [18]
Congress has ultimate authority over the district, including its budget. As a result, members of Congress, who do not represent the district and are not accountable to them, often add little-noticed clauses and amendments to the budget in order to manipulate or block the implementation of the city's laws. [19] Two ballot measures were interfered with using this method:
Initiative 77 was threatened by an amendment written by Congressmen Mark Meadows and Gary Palmer to block it from taking effect. [22] The amendment did not appear in the final enacted budget bill; [23] it was instead repealed by the D.C. Council.
Year | Measure name | Description | Status | Yes votes | No votes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Initiative 2 | An initiative to legalize some forms of gambling, including a lottery, bingo, raffles, and some sports betting [24] | Failed | 14,871 (39.23%) | 23,032 (60.77%) | [25] |
Initiative 3 | An initiative to begin the process of moving the District of Columbia to statehood [10] | Passed | 90,533 (59.7%) | 60,972 (40.2%) | [26] [27] | |
Initiative 6 | An initiative to legalize some forms of gambling for charitable purposes [26] | Passed | 104,899 (63.6%) | 59,833 (36.3%) | [26] [27] | |
1981 | Initiative 7 | An initiative to provide tuition tax credits for public education [28] | Failed | 8,904 (10.76%) | 73,829 (89.24%) | [29] |
1982 | Initiative 9 | An initiative to require a mandatory minimum prison sentence, without the opportunity for parole, for people convicted for some crimes [30] | Passed | 82,238 (72.25%) | 31,579 (27.75%) | [30] [31] |
Initiative 10 | An initiative supporting a nuclear freeze between the United States and the USSR [32] | Passed | 77,521 (69.91%) | 33,369 (30.09%) | [33] | |
1983 | Initiative 11 | An initiative to require the preservation of the historic Rhodes' Tavern and protect it from development [34] | Passed | 22,114 (59.68%) | 14,938 (40.32%) | [35] |
1984 | Initiative 17 | An initiative to guarantee a right to adequate overnight shelter for homeless people [30] | Passed; repealed [36] | 109,080 (72.12%) | 42,159 (27.88%) | [37] |
1985 | Referendum 1 | A referendum to maintain rent control provisions for some kinds of housing [30] | Passed | 22,920 (50.82%) | 22,183 (49.18%) | [38] |
1987 | Initiative 25 | An initiative stating that the funding of public education is a high priority and requiring the government adhere to a schedule of public hearings for public education funding [39] | Passed | 54,729 (77.14%) | 16,223 (22.86%) | [26] [40] |
Initiative 28 | An initiative to require beverage retailers provide a five-cent refund for all cans and bottles returned [30] | Failed | 42,574 (55.00%) | 34,834 (45.00%) | [41] | |
1990 | Referendum 5 | A referendum to guarantee a right to adequate overnight shelter for homeless people [42] | Failed | 60,734 (48.72%) | 63,913 (51.28%) | [43] |
1991 | Initiative 31 | An initiative to ban horse-drawn carriages from operating on public streets [44] | Failed | 19,429 (38.00%) | 31,403 (62.00%) | [45] |
Referendum 6 | A referendum to hold gun manufacturers liable when use of their weapons results in pain, death, or medical expenses [30] | Passed | 40,196 (77.00%) | 11,692 (23.00%) | [45] | |
1992 | Initiative 41 | An initiative to limit individual contributions for local elections [46] | Passed | 122,502 (64.70%) | 66,843 (35.30%) | [47] |
Initiative 43 | An initiative to authorize the death penalty for local inmates convicted of first-degree murder [30] | Failed | 66,303 (32.86%) | 135,465 (67.14%) | [47] | |
1993 | Initiative 37 | An initiative calling for the United States and former members of the USSR to denuclearize and direct funding towards human services [48] [49] | Passed | 41,702 (56.26%) | 32,422 (43.74%) | [50] |
1994 | Initiative 49 | An initiative limiting the mayor, councilmembers, and school board members to two consecutive terms [51] | Passed; repealed [17] | 83,865 (62.00%) | 52,116 (38.00%) | [52] |
1996 | Initiative 51 | An initiative to allow residents to challenge commercial property assessments [53] | Failed | 110,523 (80.00%) | 27,982 (20.00%) | [54] |
1998 | Initiative 59 | An initiative to legalize the possession, cultivation, and distribution of cannabis for medical reasons [55] | Passed; temporarily blocked [a] | 75,536 (69.00%) | 34,621 (31.00%) | [58] |
2000 | Charter Amendment 3 | A charter amendment reducing the size of the State Board of Education from eleven members to nine members [30] | Passed | 20,511 (51.00%) | 19,668 (49.00%) | [59] |
2002 | Initiative 62 | An initiative to allow some nonviolent drug offenders to go through a treatment program rather than drug courts [60] | Passed | 86,162 (78.17%) | 24,063 (21.83%) | [61] |
2010 | Proposed Charter Amendment IV | A referendum to make the D.C. attorney general position an elected office [11] | Passed | 90,316 (75.78%) | 28,868 (24.22%) | [62] |
2012 | Charter Amendment V | Council may, by a 5/6 vote, expel a Councilmember. | Passed | 22,452 (85.94%) | 36,883 (14.06%) | |
2012 | Charter Amendment VI | Makes ineligible to serve any Councilmember convicted of a felony while in office | Passed | 204,986 (77.61%) | 59,144 (22.39%) | |
2012 | Charter Amendment VII | Makes ineligible to serve any Mayor convicted of a felony while in office | Passed | 206,813 (78.35%) | 57,132 (21.65%) | |
2013 | Proposed Charter Amendment VIII | A referendum to grant Washington, D.C., budget autonomy from the United States federal budget [63] | Passed | 46,788 (86.33%) | 7,411 (13.67%) | [64] |
2014 | Initiative 71 | An initiative to legalize the possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use in small amounts [65] | Passed; partially blocked [21] | 115,050 (70.06%) | 49,168 (29.94%) | [66] |
2016 | Advisory Referendum B | A referendum approving a state constitution and encouraging the D.C. Council to petition Congress to admit the District of Columbia as the 51st state [67] | Passed | 244,134 (78.48%) | 40,779 (13.11%) | [68] |
2018 | Initiative 77 | An initiative to increase the minimum wage for tipped employees to the same level as non-tipped employees [69] | Passed; repealed [70] | 47,230 (55.74%) | 37,504 (44.26%) | [71] |
2020 | Initiative 81 | An initiative to require police to treat entheogenic plants and fungi as a lowest-priority offense, a form of effective decriminalization [72] | Passed | 214,685 (76.18%) | 67,140 (23.82%) | [73] |
2022 | Initiative 82 | An initiative to increase the minimum wage for tipped employees to the same level as non-tipped employees [74] | Passed | 132,925 (73.94%) | 46,861 (26.06%) | [75] |
2024 | Initiative 83 | An initiative that would permit ranked-choice voting and open the primary elections to independent voters. [76] | Passed | 212,332 (72.89%) | 78,961 (27.11%) | [77] |
The term "51st state" in American political discourse refers to the idea of adding a new state to the Union, either by granting statehood to one of the U.S. territories, splitting an existing state, admitting another country, or granting statehood to the District of Columbia (D.C.). This would increase the number of states in the U.S. from 50 to 51. The last state to be admitted was Hawaii in 1959, preceded by Alaska, which became a state just months earlier in 1959, and Arizona in 1912.
The District of Columbia statehood movement is a political movement that advocates making the District of Columbia a U.S. state, to provide the residents of the District of Columbia with voting representation in the Congress and complete control over local affairs.
In the politics of the United States, the process of initiatives and referendums allow citizens of many U.S. states to place legislation on the ballot for a referendum or popular vote, either enacting new legislation, or voting down existing legislation. Citizens, or an organization, might start a popular initiative to gather a predetermined number of signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. The measure is placed on the ballot for the referendum, or actual vote.
District of Columbia home rule is the District of Columbia residents' ability to govern their local affairs. The District is the federal capital; as such, the Constitution grants the United States Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District in "all cases whatsoever".
The D.C. Statehood Green Party, known as the DC Statehood Party prior to 1999, is a green progressive political party in the District of Columbia. The party is the D.C. affiliate of the national Green Party but has traditionally elevated issues of District of Columbia statehood movement as its primary focus. Party members refer to the Statehood Green Party as the second most popular party in the District because, historically, STG candidates win the second highest vote totals in the city, ahead of the Republican Party but behind the Democratic Party. As of February 2023, there are approximately 4,140 voters registered in the Statehood Green Party, or 0.79% of registered voters in the city.
Amendment 38 was a measure on the 2006 ballot in Colorado. If passed, it would have amended the Colorado Constitution. It would have extend the petition process to all levels of state government to expand citizens' ability to propose changes to state laws and local ordinances or resolutions.
The District of Columbia holds general elections every two years to fill various D.C. government offices, including mayor, attorney general, members of the D.C. Council, members of the D.C. State Board of Education, and members of its Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Additionally, citywide ballot measures may be proposed and voted on.
The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the United States federal district Washington, D.C.
The 2014 District of Columbia Attorney General election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the Attorney General of Washington, D.C., concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in various states and elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
Initiative 71 was a voter-approved ballot measure in Washington, D.C., that legalized the recreational use of cannabis. The short title of the initiative was "Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014". The measure was approved by 64.87% of voters on November 4, 2014 and went into full effect on February 26, 2015.
The 2020 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party's nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, defeated incumbent Republican president Donald Trump in the presidential election. Despite losing seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats retained control of the House and very narrowly gained control of the Senate. As a result, the Democrats obtained a government trifecta, the first time since the elections in 2008 that the party gained unified control of Congress and the presidency. With Trump losing his bid for re-election, he became the first president to have seen his party lose the presidency and control of both the House and the Senate since Herbert Hoover in 1932. This was the first time since 1980 that either chamber of Congress flipped partisan control in a presidential year, and the first time Democrats did so since 1948.
A referendum on statehood for the District of Columbia was held on November 8, 2016. It was the first referendum on statehood to be held in the district. The District of Columbia was created following the passage of the Residence Act on July 9, 1790, which approved the creation of a national capital, the City of Washington on the Potomac River.
In Washington, D.C., cannabis is legal for both medical use and recreational use for possession, personal use, cultivation, transportation and gifting, and for retail sale once a regulatory system is implemented following an affirmative vote by the residents on a 2014 ballot initiative. The United States Congress exercises oversight over the government of the District of Columbia, preventing the local government from regulating cannabis sales like other jurisdictions with authority derived from a U.S. state.
Initiative 77 was a voter-approved ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., to phase out the special minimum wage for tipped employees as part of the national Fight for $15 campaign. In the June 2018 primary election, D.C. voters approved Initiative 77 by a margin of 56% to 44%; however, the D.C. Council repealed the initiative in October before it could enter into force. In 2022, a nearly identical Initiative 82 was approved for the November 8, 2022 election.
On November 8, 2022, Washington, D.C., held an election for its mayor. Incumbent Democrat Muriel Bowser was elected to a third term. The Republican nominee, Stacia Hall, received 2,368 votes in the primary, and independent candidate Rodney "Red" Grant garnered 4,700 signatures to gain ballot access. Both appeared on the general election ballot along with Libertarian Party candidate Dennis Sobin. D.C. Statehood Green Party nominee Corren Brown did not appear on the general election ballot.
Initiative 81 was a Washington, D.C. voter-approved ballot initiative that changed the police priorities related to the possession, consumption, and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi. The short title of the initiative was Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020. The measure was approved by 76% of voters on November 3, 2020 and went into effect on March 16, 2021.
Initiative 82 was a voter-approved ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., to phase out the special minimum wage for tipped employees as part of the national Fight for $15 campaign. In the November 2022 general election, D.C. voters approved Initiative 82 by a margin of 74% to 26%, though about 12% of all participating voters did not vote on the initiative. It was nearly identical to Initiative 77, a ballot measure in the 2018 primary election that was approved by D.C. voters but later overturned by the D.C. Council before it could enter into force.
The following is a list of ballot measures which were on the ballot for the 2022 United States elections. Some were held prior to the federal elections on November 8. Many were initiated by state legislatures, while others were initiated by public petitions. In all, there were 141 ballot measures on ballots across most U.S. states and the District of Columbia at any point throughout the year.
Washington, D.C., is a political division coterminous with the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States. The enactment of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in 1973 provided for an elected mayor for the first time in nearly a century. Starting in 1974, there have been thirteen elections for mayor and six people have held the office. The Democratic Party has immense political strength in the district. In each of the mayoral elections, the district has solidly voted for the Democratic candidate, with no margin less than 14 percentage points.
Initiative 83 was a voter-approved ballot initiative in Washington, D.C., that would permit ranked-choice voting and open the primary elections to independent voters. If passed, more than 80,000 voters registered as “unaffiliated” with a political party will be able to participate in primaries, which are closed to those voters. Beginning in 2026, elections for all public offices, except political party offices, would be held using ranked choice voting.
D.C. will join Denver, Colorado, as well as Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, where laws are in place to decriminalize psychoactive plants and fungi.