I-83 campaign committee accused of tampering with signatures

WASHINGTON - Leading members of the Initiative 83 campaign committee have been accused of violating D.C. election laws by the D.C.Democratic Party.  

In a letter, the D.C. Democratic Party says per an order by the D.C. Board of Elections, leaders of the Initiative 83 campaign committee "used correction fluid and tape to alter data provided by nearly 5,000 voters on qualifying petitions." 

"This deceptive practice rendered at least 12% of the more than 40,000 submitted signatures tainted—undermining confidence in the petition process and the integrity of the initiative’s certification," according to the letter. 

The D.C. Democratic Party also alleges that the signatures did not include any submissions from Ward 5 or Ward 8, "raising serious concerns about geographic equity and racial fairness in how this initiative was evaluated."

What is Initiative 83? 

The backstory:

Initiative 83 asked voters if they wanted to let independents vote in primary elections and introduced ranked-choice voting to D.C. elections. The ballot initiative was opposed by both the Democratic and Republican parties in D.C. – while independents supported it. 

D.C. has had closed primaries, meaning only Democrats and Republicans could vote in primaries. Backers of I-83 said that it freezes out independent voters from having any say over who winds up on the ballot in November. 

But opponents said Initiative 83 would violate the District’s home rule by dismantling D.C.’s partisan primary system. 

What's next:

The D.C. Democratic Party called for D.C. Council to launch an investigation into the Board of Election's handling of the initiative. 

Semi-open primaries and ranked-choice voting will take effect in 2026.