The National Zoo is at it again -- it needs names for two cheetah cubs, and it has teamed up with the people behind I Can Has Cheezburger to vote on them. more ›

If Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is worried about his re-election prospects next year, he certainly isn't letting on. Barry hasn't yet filed his re-election paperwork, nor has he picked up nominating petitions to get himself on the ballot. Plenty of other people have, though, including his former spokesperson. more ›

During the District's September 2010 primary, one in five voters cast ballots at one of the four early voting sites set up across the city. For the April 3, 2012 primary, the number of early voting sites will double. more ›

In this morning's roundup, we told you how the tenure of Andrea Pringle, Vince Gray's new Deputy Chief of Staff, was already off to a rocky start -- local government watchdog Dorothy Brizill filed a formal complaint with the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, accusing Pringle of voting in the District's 2010 mayoral primary while living in Montgomery County. more ›

It's official -- after a blowout vote, the "virtual pedestrian tunnel" between the Farragut North and Farragut West Metro stations will now be christened as "Farragut Crossing". more ›

Rokey Suleman, who had served as the executive director of the District's Board of Elections and Ethics since 2009, resigned today. more ›

Though he campaigned on the theme of "One City," Mayor Vince Gray's election showed a city starkly divided along racial and geographic lines. And though Gray's branded everything that doesn't move with the "One City" slogan since taking office, the results of the April 26 At-Large Special Election seem to show that we're no closer to Gray's dream of citywide unity than we were a year ago. more ›

After some initial confusion about precisely how many Washingtonians casted a ballot yesterday, the District's Board of Elections and Ethics has revised its numbers downward, knocking turnout back into the single digits. more ›

Okay, so we're about a third of the way through the voting day, and there appears to be a good chance that you haven't cast your ballot yet. Reports coming in from around the city indicate the turnout has been light -- so unless everyone is waiting to vote after work (polls are open until 8 p.m.), we're looking at another Special Election with sparse participation. We did our best to summarize the context and candidates of the At-Large election in our Voter Guide yesterday, but it might be worth it to lay out the very good reasons that you should head to a polling place today. more ›

Everything -- and we mean everything -- you need to know about tomorrow's special election to select a permanent at-large D.C. Councilmember. more ›

We've said it before, we'll say it again -- at this point, next Tuesday's At-Large Special Election is totally up for grabs. No one candidate has risen up above the rest, and institutional support and endorsements have splintered in a number of ways. more ›

In just one week, we'll have a new At-Large councilmember -- and we'll finally be done with elections in the District for at least a few months. more ›

As we noted on Tuesday, regardless of whether the government shuts down, the District will continue its preparations for its April 26 city-wide special election. As part of those preparations, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics announced today that it will be extend hours for in-person absentee voting until 8 p.m. on Mondays through Saturday, beginning on Monday, April 11. more ›

Earlier today, we noted that a federal shutdown could affect the District in a number of ways, from which agencies operate to how the 2012 budget deliberations play out. Thankfully, there's one thing that won't change whether or not the feds close up shop: the April 26 Special Election will still go on, as planned. more ›

If you're registered to vote in the District, but you've moved or changed political affiliations since the last time you went to the polls and are planning on voting in the April 26 special election, you'll want to check out the Board of Election and Ethics website today -- it's the last day for D.C. voters to update their records via mail before the citywide election. more ›

Did you know that Patrick Mara, current Ward 1 Member of the D.C. State Board of Education and a candidate running in the race to fill an at-large D.C. Council seat, is a Republican? Did you also know that former President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain are also Republicans? If you did not realize these facts, then boy, do we have the site for you. more ›

Of course, if you read DCist on a daily basis, this isn't news to you. But you might want to go ahead and mark it down on your calendar now, as it doesn't sound like the District's Board of Elections and Ethics will be reminding you about it. As the city looks to keep election costs to a minimum, the BOEE will likely save $80,000 this spring by not sending out public notice of the April 26 special election to voters. more ›

Last night, interim At-Large Councilmember and special election candidate Sekou Biddle won the endorsement of D.C. for Democracy, a progressive activism group. That's the short version of the story: the long version involves a complex system of instant runoff voting, which some think is a better method of determining an election winner. more ›

New D.C. Councilmember Sekou Biddle's ascension to the at-large seat vacated by Council Chair Kwame Brown was sealed in a kitchenette. Biddle's attempt to hang on to the seat in April's special election might similarly be decided in a relatively small number of spaces -- that is, unless the District can come up with an extra $250,000. Freeman Klopott reports this afternoon that the city's Board of Elections and Ethics may only be able to open 16 voting centers, two in each ward, for the April special election, unless leaders can scrounge up some extra coin. In a typical election in the District, BOEE takes votes in 143 precincts across the city. more ›

Despite yesterday's vociferous protest and a meeting inside the office of new Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton lost her vote as the House of Representatives voted to approve new procedural rules this afternoon. The new House Republican majority passed the package of regulations for the 112th Congress this afternoon 225-188, a party-line vote. Norton had previously been permitted to vote on matters in the Committee of the Whole, like amendments to tax and spending legislation, although her vote was only counted when it was not the deciding tally. Republicans argue that allowing delegates like Norton to vote on the floor of the House is unconstitutional. In a press release, Norton warned that "we will need the help of the top elected District officials and District residents, because we are sure this is only the first attack on our rights." more ›

When I interviewed Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton in September, I asked her what her biggest challenge was. She responded, "I've been able to things done, even when Republicans [control the Congress]. You've got to say "how can I deal with them? I may have to deal with them again." Well, she'll certainly have to deal with a lot more Republicans during the next session of Congress -- and she'll have to deal with them without a vote on the floor of the House. more ›

What is it with being a politician named Michael Brown and needing to confuse the hell out of everyone? more ›

UPDATE (1:00 a.m.): All precincts have been accounted for; over 125,000 people voted, fewer than in the primary. (Same-day and absentee ballots haven't yet been counted, but they won't likely push the number above the primary.) Vince Gray claimed 90,000 votes, while the write-in campaign for Mayor Adrian Fenty notched a very impressive 27,000 votes, or 22 percent. More to come tomorrow. more ›

Martin Austermuhle, DCist politics reporter/columnist, stick figure artist extraordinaire and recipient of two write-in votes for Mayor (no, I am not kidding), will be live tweeting from the headquarters of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics tonight as the District's votes are tallied. Polls in the District close at 8 p.m. You can follow along with Martin below. more ›

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics gets our tweet of the day award for this gem, describing what happened when a D.C. voter tried to use a stamp bearing Mayor Adrian Fenty's name to cast their vote for him. Such stamps, which have been handed out by organizers of a small write-in movement that favors Fenty, are not an unprecedented strategy: a similar tactic was utilized by Mayor Anthony Williams' campaign after Williams was knocked off the primary ballot in 2002. Of course, as this voter probably discovered, the stamps are meant to be used on paper ballots, not on electronic voting machines. more ›

At 5:30 this morning, Jethro Smith arrived at the Reeves Center, ready to work. Smith, a Board of Elections and Ethics technical clerk, was fully prepared to meet the crowds ready to vote in this year's general election at Precinct 141, which is tucked away inside ground floor of the Center. Smith had put in a six-hour shift at the precinct yesterday, preparing equipment and setting up for registration, and he was ready to put in at least fifteen hours of today. Such long hours are necessary -- the Board has repeatedly promised that the general election would be a better voting experience for citizens than September's Democratic primary, and such promises take a lot of elbow grease to fulfill. more ›

Based on the accounts we've heard, it sounds like there is a small number of people who are involved with the campaign to write-in Mayor Adrian Fenty out and about at the polls today. But the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance says that the people behind the write-in campaign can't use Fenty's primary materials to promote their effort -- City Paper's Alan Suderman reports that OCF told the group that the leftover campaign literature they had been distributing did not have the appropriate disclosures. Something tells us that the ruling -- even with its threat of $500 fines for continued use -- will do little to stop people who are really behind the write-in effort from trying to give you some contraband recycled Fenty lit at the polls today. more ›

All politicians are a little crazy, right? After all, it takes someone with a bit of a maniacal edge to run for, and serve in, public office. In fact, could make the argument that as a politician, if somebody doesn't hate you, well, you probably aren't doing that great of a job. Of course, it's a managed insanity. Seats of power obviously attract those with causes they firmly believe in, but are just plain kooky to the majority of the population. D.C., obviously, is no exception. more ›

Not going to be in town for the general election on November 2 and can't make it to one of the District's five early voting centers at some point over the next week? Well then get your mouse over to the Board of Elections and Ethics website, post-haste! Today is the last day to request an absentee ballot for next Tuesday's election. If given the option, we'd highly recommend voting early instead of filling out an absentee ballot -- but for those who find themselves needing to mail in their vote, the link for the ballot request form can be found here. more ›