Our 2020 Ward 3 voter guide: From the at-large Council seats to ANC 3F

We’re updating this article periodically with candidate questionnaires and other information as they are published. New on 10/6: ANC candidate questionnaires.

We’re pretty sure you’ve made up your mind about the presidential candidate you’re backing in this election. But what about the crowded at-large DC Council race? Who will you pick for at-large member of the State Board of Education?

This voter guide is focusing on the races and the single initiative appearing on the Ward 3 ballot.

At-Large DC Council

The most important thing to remember – is that you get to select two of the 24 names on the ballot.

Rick Murphree dropped out in September, so that leaves 23 at-large Council candidates to choose from. The DC Line went to the considerable effort of collecting and listing all the candidate websites, so that’s a good place to start.

And on September 29th and 30th, the DC Office of Campaign Finance hosted three virtual debates moderated by The Washington Post’s Fenit Nirappil. The recordings of these debates can be found at 2020dcdebates.com. Here’s the Post’s summary. Here’s Washington City Paper’s writeup.

And DCist has an article with responses to its own candidate questionnaire.

At-Large State Board of Education Race

We’re going to send you back to The DC Line for the candidate websites. The DC campaign finance office also hosted a debate for the candidates.

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

Depending on where you live in ANC 3F, you’re going to see one or two names in this section. Each ANC is divided into single member districts or SMDs. If you don’t know yours, plug your street address into ancfinder.org.

We have published statements from each of the eight candidates for the seven ANC 3F seats.

On October 1st, we hosted a virtual forum for the candidates moderated by Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh.

Also, Greater Greater Washington (which reached out to all ANC candidates, including those in Ward 3), Cleveland Park Smart Growth (ANC 3C and 3F) and Ward 3 Bicycle Advocates (Ward 3 ANC candidates) have published the candidates’ responses to their questionnaires.

The Other Races and the Ballot Initiative

Visit The DC Line for more information on these candidates:

• Delegate for U.S. House
• U.S. Senator (shadow seat)
• U.S. Representative (shadow seat)

Finally, if you’re voting on a paper mail-in ballot, don’t forget to turn it over. There you’ll find Initiative 81, which would decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi, a.k.a. “magic mushrooms.” According to the initiative’s backers, “[t]his change would help thousands of D.C. residents suffering from anxiety, PTSD, addiction, or depression who currently fear arrest or prosecution for pursuing healing through natural, entheogenic substances.”

Voting

Vote by mail: The DC Board of Elections is mailing a ballot to every registered voter in the District. The deadline to register online is October 13th, so ballots will continue to be mailed out as late as October 17th. If you don’t get your ballot by October 21st, plan to vote in person. If this will present a problem for you, call the Board of Elections at 202-727-2525.

Ballots sent by mail must be received no later than November 13th. To mitigate concerns about the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to handle all that mail, DC BOE has set up 55 ballot drop box locations around the District. Your completed ballot must be dropped off by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The closest drop boxes are at the Chevy Chase Library, Tenley-Friendship Library and Cleveland Park Library.

Drop Boxes are almost ready! pic.twitter.com/bNvHIWB9nf

— DC Board of Elections (@Vote4DC) October 1, 2020

Early in-person voting: You can vote at any of the 32 “Vote Centers” between Tuesday, October 27th and Monday, November 2nd from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Two of the closest locations are the UDC Student Center (4200 Connecticut Avenue) and Murch Elementary School (4810 36th Street NW).

On Election Day: Polls will be open at 95 “Vote Centers” from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. UDC, Murch and Capital Memorial Church (3150 Chesapeake Street NW) are the closest of these. Again, you can vote at any of these centers in the District.