WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in the District of Columbia don’t have a say in which party wins control of Congress. But the District's voters do get to decide which presidential candidate wins its three Electoral College votes.
There's not likely to be much drama in that choice: The District is a heavily Democratic city.
Instead, the attention on Election Day will be in the Ward 8 City Council election, where Democrat Trayon White is running for reelection. White’s victory in the primary would usually mean he’s in a strong position in the general election. But White was charged earlier this year with accepting bribes in exchange for pressuring D.C. employees to extend city contracts for violence intervention services. White has pleaded not guilty.
Initiative 83 has also attracted more attention than most races for elected office. Voters will either approve or reject a proposal to implement ranked choice voting in the District’s primary elections, allowing voters to rank up to five candidates for office. It would also open the primary to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.
Voters will elect the city’s non-voting delegate to the U.S. House, where Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton is running for an 18th term. The city’s unofficial shadow U.S. House seat and one of two shadow U.S. Senate seats are also on the ballot. Created in 1990, the shadow senators and representative are not officially members of Congress and instead serve as advocates for D.C. representation and statehood.
The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it has determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Here’s a look at what to expect in the 2024 election in the District of Columbia:
Nov. 5.
8 p.m. ET.
3 awarded to districtwide winner.
President: Harris (D) vs. Trump (R) vs. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (independent).
Ballot measure: Initiative 83 (establish ranked choice voting).
City council, U.S. Delegate, shadow U.S. Representative, shadow U.S. Senator.
2020: Biden (D) 93%, Trump (R) 5%, AP race call: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, 9:27 p.m. ET.
Registered voters: 435,887 (as of Aug. 31, 2024). About 76% Democrats, 5% Republicans, 17% independents.
Voter turnout in Nov. 2020: 66% of registered voters.
Votes cast before Election Day 2020: 91% of the total vote.
Votes cast before Election Day 2022: 71% of the total vote.
Votes cast before Election Day 2024: See AP Advance Vote tracker.
First votes reported, Nov. 3, 2020: 9:21 p.m. ET.
By midnight ET: about 55% of total votes cast were reported.
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Associated Press writers Maya Sweedler and Robert Yoon contributed to this report.
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Read more about how U.S. elections work at Explaining Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.