ANC commissioners urge D.C. Council to shift contested ANC special elections to Board of Elections amid complaints about protest process

What happened: During the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor’s Feb. 19 hearing, multiple Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and former commissioners asked the committee to change how special ANC vacancies are filled and to tighten petition/challenge rules for local races.

What witnesses asked: ANC commissioner Joe Bishop Henchman told the committee the law now requires contested special elections when an ANC seat becomes vacant, but ANCs are volunteer bodies without election expertise: "DCBOE already has the staff...equipment...signage...the know how on how to do special elections," Henchman said. He asked the Council to consider an amendment to D.C. Code §1‑309.06(d)(6) to move responsibility for contested ANC special elections from the ANC to the Board of Elections.

Tom Donahue, a newly elected ANC commissioner, recounted a multi‑year residency and recall dispute involving ANCs and the Board of Elections that he said exemplified gaps in the current process. Several witnesses described the burden on volunteer ANCs: inability to accommodate same‑day registration, difficulty staffing long vote periods, and trouble finding and setting up appropriate polling venues.

Former ANC commissioner Chrysanthemum Korneos and other witnesses described a separate but related problem: targeted petition protests that challenge small signatures rolls to keep some volunteers from the ballot. Korneos said she submitted about 32 signatures but had fewer than the 25 validated by the verification process when challenged; she and others asked the committee to consider restricting who may file protests or tightening standards for protestors.

BOE response and practice: BOE Executive Director Monica Evans told the committee that BOE already performs parts of the process: the agency “handle[s] the candidate pickup process” and declares vacancies, but ANCs currently administer their own contested special elections. Evans also noted there are 33 vacant ANC seats across the city and that the Ward 8 Council vacancy (certified Feb. 14) will require a special election the board scheduled for July 15, 2025; she said those special election funds are not in BOE’s FY25 budget. BOE said it will continue to provide petition services and clarified the separate roles each entity plays under current law.

Why this matters: ANC special elections determine neighborhood-level representation. Commissioners and witnesses said shifting contested special elections to BOE would professionalize administration, enable same‑day registration and accommodate voters with disabilities and language needs, and reduce the administrative burden on unpaid volunteer commissioners. Opponents of change, including some council staffers and advocates who spoke informally at the hearing, said costs and statutory changes require full committee and council review.

Quotes

"DCBOE already has the staff...equipment...signage...the know how on how to do special elections. ANCs were volunteers," — Joe Bishop Henchman, ANC commissioner (testimony).

"We currently have 33 vacant ANC seats," — Monica Evans, D.C. Board of Elections (BOE testimony).

Ending

Committee members acknowledged the problem and indicated staff will follow up with BOE and ANC stakeholders. Henchman’s requested code amendment is a legislative ask, not an agency decision; the hearing produced no vote. The committee asked BOE for details on costs for special elections and for the board’s role in petition verification and vacancy administration.