Results tagged “dcboee”

As expected, Bishop Harry Jackson filed his petition with the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics today to request a ballot initiative on legalizing same-sex marriage in the District. It's a move designed to preempt legislative action from the D.C. Council on the issue later this year (At-large councilmember David Catania has promised to introduce such a bill this fall), with Jackson betting on a redux of California's Prop 8. Perhaps more surprising, however, is that the Archdiocese of Washington has also gotten involved in the movement, although without officially joining Jackson's Stand4MarriageDC coalition. The Post reports that Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl also submitted a letter to the elections board today calling for a referendum. Via Tim Craig:

"It is ironic that at the same time the city is asking for voting representation in the U.S. Congress, its leaders are denying residents the opportunity to participate in the Democratic process for an issue with widespread implications for children and families," Ronald Jackson, executive director of the D.C. Catholic Conference, said in a statement.

The District Board of Elections and Ethics finally has a permanent executive director, the board announced late Friday. Rokey W. Suleman II, previously Fairfax County’s general registrar, will come on board in July after more than a year with only an interim director at the helm - a year which saw some controversial election irregularities during the September primary. The Examiner has more on the appointment, noting that Suleman will take on the job at a time when the BOEE has been tasked with deciding whether recognizing gay marriages legally performed elsewhere is a proper subject for a referendum.

The Examiner reports that voter turnout in the metro area last week was not historically high. The DCBOEE was predicting about 63 percent voter turnout this year in the District once all absentee votes were counted. In 1984, when Walter Mondale was running for president, voter turnout in D.C. was up at 77 percent. Virginia and Maryland similarly fell short of setting records this year. That seems pretty weird, considering the long lines we saw at many precincts early in the morning. What could explain the disparity? Seems like a lot of this year's enthusiastic voters voted first thing in the morning, and that rain in the evening on Tuesday might have kept people away after work; lines at most polling places after 10:30 a.m. or so were virtually nonexistent.

We all knew the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics would be counting extra carefully tonight after the Sept. 9 primary debacle. Well now it's officially later in the evening than it was during the February Potomac Primary when the DCBOEE released its first round of numbers. As of 9:50 p.m., there are still 0 percent of D.C.'s precincts reporting. Maryland, on the other hand, has at least 16 percent of its precincts reporting. How late do you think it'll be before we get any numbers? We're going with 10:37 p.m.

The D.C. Republican Committee sent around word late yesterday that a registered Republican living in Ward 2 was mailed an absentee ballot that is missing candidates and includes a candidate from another Ward.

You may have read in the Washington Post this morning that today is the first day that District residents may cast "in-person absentee" ballots, up until Nov. 3. All you have to do is show up at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics headquarters at 441 4th St. NW, Suite 250N, to request an absentee ballot and vote right then and there. Sounds great, right? Especially if you think you might be out of town or say, busy covering the election on Nov. 4.

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics sent word around today that voters who vote in Precinct #39, the Ward 1 polling place that has normally been located at the Mt. Pleasant Public Library branch at 3160 16th Street NW, has been moved. Voters in Precinct #39 will now cast their ballots for the Nov. 4 general election down the street, in the auditorium at Bell Multicultural High School, at 3101 16th Street NW. All registered voters in Precinct #39 should also receive a card in the mail notifying them of this change. For further information, call the Board of Elections and Ethics at (202) 727-2525.

report for accuracy prior to public release.

Amid continuing concerns about the validity of the results, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics still hasn't certified the results of the Sept. 9 primary election. New pre-certified results were released on Sept. 20, and today, the board released its final post election audit report. You can download the nine-page PDF for yourself. According to the report, the audit consisted of four three-member teams, each reviewing the ballots of randomly selected precincts, which were precincts 13, 21, 22 and 44. None of the audited precincts showed differences between manual recounts and voting machine results of more than one or two votes in any given race, though there were small inconsistencies between hand counts in two of the precincts.

Shortly after releasing its statement to the media, the DCBOEE has issued a new set of unofficial primary election results, this time with all 143 precincts included. None of the outcomes of any of the races have changed: Patrick Mara is still well ahead of long-time At-large Council member Carol Schwartz, Jack Evans has still held on to his Ward 2 seat, and all the other incumbents in the major races have still won their primary races. The total voter turn-out for this primary is now looking to be 42,421, although that still doesn't include absentee or provisional ballots. The total turnout for the Feb. 12 presidential primary was 131,103.

After huddling behind closed doors and ignoring media inquiries for most of the day, the DCBOEE has issued a statement on last night's voting irregularities.

Not content to sit on the couch watching election returns come in on television? Civic-minded to the max? Marginally employed? The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics wants you! Roughly 800 poll workers are still needed for the Sept. 9 primary election in the District. With a potential paycheck of between $120 to $160 for a day's work, surely some of you could use the cash, and perhaps even more of you would just like to do your part. Head to the DCBOEE web site to get more information and fill out an application.