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Council questions whether Board of Elections can fully implement ranked-choice voting by 2026
Summary
At a Committee on Executive Administration and Labor roundtable, Board of Elections Director Monica Evans outlined a plan to put ranked-choice voting on the June 2026 ballot while Councilmembers pressed for stronger readiness measures, a needs assessment, and assurances on outreach, accessibility and equipment funding.
The Committee on Executive Administration and Labor heard from Monica Evans, executive director of the DC Board of Elections, on preparations to implement ranked-choice voting (RCV) for the 2026 primary and general elections. Evans confirmed RCV will appear on the June 16, 2026 primary and described a multi-part rollout that includes rulemaking, vendor coordination, ballot design and a voter education program.
Evans told the committee: "We will mail every eligible voter a ballot for the primary and general elections." She also said BOE has schedules in place for candidate petition timelines, logic-and-accuracy testing and mail-ballot production. General counsel Terry Stroud said BOE has developed a framework for regulations but key policy decisions remain under discussion and will be finalized before any final ballots are sent to the printer.
Councilmembers repeatedly pressed BOE for clarity on whether the agency has the budget, staff and formal readiness benchmarks to carry out the transition without disenfranchising voters. Councilmember Windell Felder warned that implementation "must be thoughtful, multilingual, accessible, and equitable," and asked whether BOE had completed a needs assessment; Evans replied the agency has not, citing lack of funding to contract for one. Evans said BOE can place RCV on the ballot but that the scale of education and outreach "depends on dollars" and overtime funding.
The committee left the record open for public written comments through Dec. 8, 2025, and requested BOE provide additional materials and data, including specifics about outreach targets, mailer return rates and vendor statements of work. The roundtable will continue in subsequent sessions to track BOE’s progress and to consider whether the Council should pursue statutory changes or additional funding.
