MYTH: Make All Votes Count DC claims that closed primaries disenfranchise non-party affiliated, independent voters.
FACT: Eligible voters are never barred from joining the Democratic Party. All registered and eligible voters can vote in a general election regardless of party affiliation. Title IV of the DC Home Rule Act inherently guarantees the right of District voters and political parties to associate together to achieve their political goals.   The DC Home Rule Act specifically states that the Mayor[1], Councilmembers[2], and Attorney General[3] be elected on a “partisan” basis. Independent voters have made a choice not to affiliate with a party.  It is not a legitimate argument that closed primaries disenfranchise any registered and eligible voter.  In fact, semi-closed primaries are a direct attempt to suppress the Democratic voting rights in the District of Columbia guaranteed by the Home Rule Act.  Requiring that a voter be a party member to vote in a closed primary is not disenfranchisement — it is freedom of association.

MYTH: Make All Votes Count DC has asserted that the majority of District of Columbia voters support ranked choice voting and opening the primaries to Independent voters.

FACT: Based on the August 1, 2023, DCBOE voter registration statistic, there are 405,391 registered Democratic voters in the District of Columbia.  Many of them are represented by long standing District of Columbia organizations and civic associations that have taken a general body vote of its members in opposition to ranked choice voting, semi-closed primaries, and/or Initiative 83.  Attorney Johnny Barnes, on behalf of the Democratic State Committee, filed a Complaint in Opposition to Initiative 83 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (2023-CAB-0005414) arguing in part that the initiative violated the Home Rule Act, the Constitution, and the DC Human Rights Act.

MYTH: Make All Votes Count DC presents itself as a grassroots District of Columbia organization.

FACT: Make All Votes Count DC are using locals as the face of their campaign, however, their efforts are engineered and fueled by national special interest groups and dark money.  The two national organizations, Open Primaries and Fair Vote , are behind the Make All Votes Count DC campaign.  Both organizations are not District of Columbia organizations but represent outside special interest groups trying to influence DC politics.

MYTH:  Make All Votes Count DC in their recent press release from January 10, 2024, argued that ranked choice voting will “protect the Black vote” and “help elect more women and people of color. “[4]

FACT: Electing women of color and people of color is not an issue in the District of Columbia.  The Council of the District of Columbia is the most diverse elected council in the metropolitan area and perhaps in the nation.  District voters have and will continue to vote women and people of color into office who share their values.  Ranked choice voting and open primaries if adopted will reverse the gender and racial make-up of the District’s elected officials.

MYTH:  Make All Votes Count DC argues that ranked choice voting is widely being adopted nationwide.

FACT: An analysis of the trends throughout the nation indicated that the reverse may be true. Jurisdictions are either rescinding or have abandoned ranked choice voting.  Ranked choice voting is banned in South Dakota, Idaho, Tennessee, Florida, and Montana. In November 2023, during the general elections, the County Board of our southern neighbors in Arlington, Virginia decided against using ranked choice voting. This decision followed their experimentation with ranked choice voting during the Democratic Primary in June 2023. The County Board cited confusion about the process and its negative effects on minority voters.[5]

MYTH: Make All Votes Count DC published materials state that “Ranking preserves Native Washingtonian voting power…”
FACT: This attack on grassroots DC Statehood efforts will have a negative effect on the ongoing fight for DC Statehood. Historically, most opposition to DC statehood is partisan and is based in the fear of the political voting power of Wards 7, 8 and 5. In 1978, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) commented that the resistance to granting the District of Columbia full representation was due to “the fear that Senators elected from the District of Columbia may be too liberal, too urban, too Black or too Democratic.”[6] The House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) recently drafted a memo in response to H.R. 51, the D.C. Admission Act, with the central argument against DC Statehood being that “it is nothing more than a partisan power grab from Speaker Pelosi and her socialist allies to add two more Democrats to the Senate.”[7]  “Initiative 83 will destroy Democracy and the Democratic Party in the District of Columbia and hamper DC Statehood efforts.” Says Deirdre Brown, Chair of the Vote NO on Initiative 83.  

[1] D.C. Code § 1-204.21(b) “The Mayor, established by subsection (a) of this section, shall be elected, on a partisan basis, for a term of 4 years beginning at noon on January 2nd of the year following his election.”

[2] D.C. Code § 1-204.01(b)(1) “The Council established under subsection (a) of this section shall consist of 13 members elected on a partisan basis.”

[3] D.C. Code § 1-204.35(a) “The Attorney General for the District of Columbia shall be elected on a partisan basis by the registered qualified electors of the District.”

[4] https://makeallvotescountdc.org/press-release-campaign-adopt-initiative-83-petition/

[5] https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/07/18/after-being-first-in-virginia-to-use-it-arlington-hits-brakes-on-ranked-choice-voting/

[6] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/dc-statehood-explained

[7] https://cc.org/dems-push-for-d-c-statehood-is-an-unconstitutional-power-grab/