Ranked-Choice Voting in D.C.: What You Need to Know

This primary election, D.C. voters will use ranked-choice voting. Instead of voting for just one candidate, you can rank up to five candidates for each office, in order of preference. You can still pick just one person to vote for or rank fewer than five people.

Rank up to five candidates in order from your first choice to your fifth. Rank like you read – left to right, from choice #1 to choice #5.

Fill in the circle next to your first choice candidate under the “1” column. Then fill in the circle next to your second-choice candidate under the “2” column. Repeat this process until you have selected up to five candidates.

You can still vote for just one candidate or for fewer than five candidates. Ranking other candidates does not hurt your first-choice candidate.

You don’t have to rank any candidate you don’t want to.

To vote for a write-in candidate, print the candidate’s name on the “write-in” line and fill in the oval that corresponds to where you want to rank them.

Do not give multiple candidates the same ranking. If you rank two candidates as your number one choice, your ballot will be invalid.

Do not rank a single candidate as your first, second, third, fourth, and fifth choice. If you do so, only the top ranking will count.

If one candidate in a race receives more than 50 percent of first choice votes, that candidate wins the election.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first choice votes, then the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated in rounds of counting until there are only two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins.

In each round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. If your first choice is eliminated, your vote goes to your second choice. If, in a subsequent round, your second choice is eliminated, your vote goes to your third choice.

This process repeats itself until there are only two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes is the winner.

Counting the votes may take a little longer, so we may not see final results on election night.