Primary elections in Washington, DC, are coming up in June. However, while three-quarters of the city’s electorate voted for them to be open to independent voters, they won’t be – because city officials refuse to make the switch from a closed partisan system.
And independent voters in DC are understandably upset.
Tanya Hutchins, who has worked in all areas of multimedia, posted a video on her social media accounts expressing frustration with the DC City Council. “I’m a DC voter who is pissed off that Council will not fully fund Initiative 83,” she says in the video.
“The issue passed last year with nearly 75%. It approved ranked choice voting, but it also approved allowing independents like me to vote in primaries.”
Shawn Griffiths
As Hutchins noted, Initiative 83 was approved by voters in 2024 with 73% of the vote. The citizen-driven measure called for open primaries that allow independent voters to participate in critical taxpayer-funded elections and the use of ranked choice voting in all city elections.
Throughout the course of the election and after, Initiative 83 was the subject of controversy:
- The Democratic Party sued to block it.
- Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser kept it off her initial FY2026 proposed budget.
- DC city council members said its implementation should be debated after voters made their desires clear.
In July 2025, the city council voted 8-4 to fund the ranked choice voting portion of Initiative 83, but did not include open primaries. Independent voters remain locked out of elections that decide most contests in a heavily Democratic city.
“Council says they have to print more ballots and educational materials,” says Hutchins, referring to claims of added costs to elections. In reality, the implementation of open primaries would account for 0.007% of the city’s multi‑billion-dollar budget.
The actions by the DC City Council have even gotten the Washington Post to pen an editorial asking, "Why are DC Democrats so afraid of independent voters?"
There is a DC City Council meeting scheduled for May 1. Hutchins encourages independent voters to go to the hearing and demand their right to vote. “I sent in my written testimony, basically saying, ‘Let independents vote!’"