If you are a registered voter, your ballot for the 2022 general election should have arrived in the mail by now. If you’re still considering how to mark it up – on this day or on Election Day – here’s a rundown of who and what’s on the ballot in Ward 3.
But first, let’s take a look at who is voting in Ward 3. The ward had 58,443 registered voters as of August 31, with 42,128 registered as Democrats, 4,791 as Republicans, 298 as Libertarians, 353 as DC Statehood Green Party, 10,761 as no party, and 112 as “other.”
Other than Democrats, the largest voting bloc is “no party.” They did not get to vote in the District’s closed primary election, so it’s their first chance in this election cycle to weigh in on who will be representing them in the DC government.
But, who WILL vote? Not having presidential candidates on the ballot tends to depress participation. For example, 75.3% of Ward 3 voters participated in the 2020 presidential election. In 2018, 55.5% did so. It’s possible that universal vote by mail also made a difference in 2020 – mail-in ballots were available only by request in previous elections. So it will be interesting to see if there’s a difference in turnout this time.
How and where to vote
Again, if you’re already registered, your ballot should have arrived in the mail. Once you mark it up, you can send it back to the DC Board of Elections via the US Postal Service, or you can take it to any ballot dropbox location from Friday, October 14 until 8 p.m. on November 8th, which is Election Day. Three of the Ward 3 dropboxes will be set up outside the Tenleytown, Cleveland Park and Chevy Chase libraries.
But what if your mailed ballot does not arrive, or you simply prefer to vote in person? And what if you’re not already a registered voter? You can visit any early voting center from October 31 to November 6, and register and vote on that very day. The early voting centers in Ward 3 are the Cleveland Park Library, Chevy Chase Community Center and the UDC Student Center. They’ll be open each day from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
If voting on Election Day is more your thing, that’s an option too (as is same-day voter registration). Murch Elementary and the Capital Memorial Church are two of the Ward 3 vote centers open on November 8th, but you could cast your ballot at any in the District. You just have to do it sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Voter guides
Now you may have a plan for how to submit your ballot. But have you decided who or what will get your vote? At this point, we are going to refer you to the WAMU/DCist voter guide, which provides background and informational links for candidates in Ward 3-specific (Council member, State Board of Education) and District-wide races (including the mayor, Council chair and at-large Council members). It also has background on Initiative 82, which proposes to phase out the $5.35 minimum wage for tipped workers so they’d be earning what will be the full minimum wage in 2027 of $16.10 per hour.
What the DCist guide doesn’t cover with much specificity are the candidates for advisory neighborhood commission. No one can. There are simply too many, with 46 ANCs DC-wide, and seats in 345 single member districts up for grabs. ANC commissioners serve two-year terms as neighborhood-level representatives.
As of January, ANC 3F will serve Van Ness, Forest Hills, Wakefield, and parts of North Cleveland Park and Chevy Chase. ANC 3F will have six single member districts. Out of those six races, only two are competitive, but there is always a chance for a write-in campaign. We’ve published statements from the nine candidates who qualified for the ballot:
ANC 3F01: Ryan Cudemus-Brunoli
ANC 3F02: Teri Huet
ANC 3F03: Mitch Baer
ANC 3F04: Claudette David (incumbent)
ANC 3F05: Andrew Koval and James Tandaric (incumbent)
ANC 3F06: Courtney Carlson, Bridget Schwartz and Rona Walters
And if you haven’t already, it’s not a bad idea to check the boundaries of your SMD, which change on January 1st.
Candidate forums and debates
The DC Office of Campaign Finance has hosted a debate for the mayoral candidates, which you can watch on YouTube.
The campaign finance office has also hosted two at-large Council candidate forums. This one had seven of the eight candidates participating. And this one features the eighth at-large candidate.
As for the Ward 3 Council, Democrat Matthew Frumin and Republican David Krucoff participated in a recent debate hosted by the Foxhall, Cleveland Park and Palisades community associations. To watch, click here, then enter this passcode: t#M9yc7d
The Washington Teachers Union hosted a forum for the candidates for State Board of Education, including Ward 3 candidates Eric Goulet and Michael Sriqui. Their portion, with the Ward 6 candidates, begins at 34:30.
The WTU forum also brings in at-large Council candidates at around 1:06:00
Have more candidate debates or forums to add? Let us know in the comments or email us at [email protected].
John Capozzi says
“The ward had 58,443 registered voters as of August 31, with 42,128 registered as Democrats, 4,791 as Republicans, 298 as Libertarians, 353 as DC Statehood Green Party, 10,761 as no party, and 112 as “other. For example, 75.3% of Ward 3 voters participated in the 2020 presidential election. In 2018, 55.5% did so. It’s possible that universal vote by mail also made a difference in 2020 – mail-in ballots were available only by request in previous elections.”
One factor in the turnout numbers was not addressed. The number of voters on the DC voter rolls is inflated by the DC Board of Elections (BOEE) inability to remove voters who have moved from DC. During the canvas of voters after the election, unless someone returns the inquiry form the BOEE asking if a person still lives at their registered address; that voter who has move continues to stay on the voter rolls. This means they are counted as “Not voted” even though they can no longer vote.
This depresses the turnout numbers in Ward 3 and city wide. Ward 3 and DC in general have a much higher turnout than is officially reported due to inflated voter rolls.
Teresa Osborn says
Thank you for posting this, I am new to DC and have not received my ballot yet. It took 4 phone calls to finally show up as a registered voter, but since I don’t have my ballot, what should I do?
FHC says
One thing you can do now is see if a ballot has been mailed to you: https://votedc.ballottrax.net/voter/
Whether a ballot arrives or not, anyone can vote in person at the DC voting centers, either once early voting begins on October 31 or on Election Day. For those who need assistance, curbside voting is available.