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A More Perfect District is a podcast from the ACLU of D.C. focused on the civil rights and civil liberties issues shaping Washington, D.C. We break down what’s happening, why it matters, and what it will take to protect our rights. Our work spans the courts, the legislature, and the street, all aimed at building a more just and free D.C.
[00:00:00.100] - Alicia Yass
This election matters, as we've, as we talked about the beginning. There's so many new— there's so much turnover in these offices that hasn't happened in a long time. So it's really an opportunity for the residents of D.C. to tell the electors what they want. I mean, that's the point of the elections. You're holding people responsible. If your current incumbent candidate is not doing what you want them to do, this is your opportunity to say that by voting for somebody else.
[00:00:26.110] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
And what ranked-choice voting brings to the table is a level of accountability. Instead of candidates splitting the votes and somebody getting like 20% of the vote or 30% of the vote, which means that 80% or 70% of people did not want that person in that seat, people have to earn the majority.
[00:00:46.020] - Amber Taylor
Hey everyone, and welcome to A More Perfect District, a podcast from the ACLU DC. We work to protect and advance civil liberties and civil rights for people who live, work, and visit in the District of Columbia, in the court, in the legislature, and in the streets. I'm your host for this episode, Anfer Taylor, Strategic Communications Director for the ACLU, the District of Columbia. Each episode, we take a deep dive into the civil rights and civil liberties issues shaping Washington, D.C. today and explore how we can protect our rights and move us closer to a more just and free D.C. Voting is a cornerstone of our democracy and a fundamental right upon which all of our civil liberties rest. The D.C. primary election will take place on June 16th. This is a monumental election where D.C. voters will navigate ranked-choice voting for the first time. Today, we will talk about how to vote in the D.C. election and ways to make sure that you're informed on the issues when casting your ballot. However you plan to vote, make civil liberties and civil rights a priority when you cast your ballot. Today, we'll be joined by Brandon Bush Thompson.
[00:01:56.980] - Amber Taylor
They are the communications associate with the League of Women Voters of D.C. to talk about ranked choice voting. Later, I'll be joined by Alisa Yass, policy advocacy director at the ACLU of D.C., to talk about what you need to know to vote in the DC election.
[00:02:14.680] - Alicia Yass
Hi Brandon!
[00:02:15.500] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Hi, how are you doing?
[00:02:17.240] - Amber Taylor
I'm good, thank you so much for being here today.
[00:02:19.490] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.
[00:02:21.650] - Amber Taylor
Well look, we have a very important election coming up, right? June 16th is DC primary. Um, there's some— I feel like there's so many things going on. We got candidates racing, you know, we have major elections, um, going on, like what the mayor is going— yeah, we have to vote for the mayor. This is the first time that we'll have Um, a new, uh, DC delegates representing DC. So a lot of things going on and like we have ranked choice voting that's happening as well, correct?
[00:02:48.840] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yes. My goodness gracious. With some new system of voting that's coming to DC. So the more that people are involved and can learn about it as quickly as possible, we, we need to be on it. Definitely need to be on it.
[00:03:06.410] - Amber Taylor
Amazing. Well, look, I just wanna take like a step back and first like, let's like set the groundwork for like, um, what you do at the League of Women Voters and like how you kind of got started into this work. So could you talk a little bit about, um, you know, what the league does and what you do with, with the league?
[00:03:21.440] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So the League of Women Voters of DC, and obviously like I'm not a woman, you know, being in the League of Women Voters of DC, but they have a large, um, population of people who they bring in as volunteers or people who they specifically do things with around the city. They focus on civic engagement and trying to protect our legal rights, especially voting rights, and also trying to advocate for DC statehood, full rights for DC. They do a lot, and they've been operating in DC for a very, very long time. So yeah, they out here doing stuff.
[00:04:03.660] - Amber Taylor
They are amazing partners. We love to see them. And I'm curious, like, could you talk a little about like what the work that you do with the league?
[00:04:11.040] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yes. So I am a communications associate with the League of Women Voters of D.C. I work with their full rights team as well as their statehood committee. And I'm also doing work to help create content for Right Choice Voting specifically around that. So, yeah.
[00:04:30.450] - Amber Taylor
Yeah, I mean, like, ranked choice voting, I feel like it's this new thing. It's not scary for everyone who's like, you know, listening. It's not a scary thing, but it's a new thing for DC residents.
[00:04:40.410] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yeah.
[00:04:41.840] - Amber Taylor
Could you just kind of walk us through it? When we're voting for the first time, like, what are some of the major things people need to be thinking about when thinking about ranked choice voting?
[00:04:53.750] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So things that people need to absolutely keep in mind is that Ranked choice voting is going to force you to do a little bit of research on your candidates because this time around, instead of you just voting for one person, you have the opportunity to vote for or cast your ranking for multiple candidates if you so choose. So you rank whoever it is your favorite candidate, it might be in that particular race. You rank them as your first choice, then you get your backup choices, up to 5 choices in total. You don't have to rank all of them if you don't want to. And then after that, a candidate has to get over 50% of the vote in order for a candidate to come out on top. So that's what we're working with, people. It is one of those things where, again, people have to do their research, and because of that, people might be a little bit apprehensive to it, but I've been out in the community educating people with the League of Women Voters of D.C. and other organizations, and they get it. They're trying to wrap their heads around the entirety of the concept, including like tabulations and where their vote goes and how they move.
[00:06:13.920] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
But it really is something that I personally believe outside of League of Women Voters of D.C. Genuinely gives people more of a say-so in what their local elections look like, specifically here in D.C.
[00:06:28.720] - Amber Taylor
Look, I mean, voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. We need to make sure that people are exercising their voice at the ballot. But I'm also curious, like, so you talked a little bit about, like, you know, people have cast their votes for, you know, they're going to rank who they're going to be picking for their, their top choices.
[00:06:48.570] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yes.
[00:06:49.030] - Amber Taylor
Um, and then what happens, like, if somebody doesn't get 50% of the vote? What happens then?
[00:06:54.030] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So that is when we kick into the tabulation round. That is when, like you said, somebody doesn't automatically reach that majority or that 50% plus 1, um, threshold in order to declare a candidate the winner of that race. Um, and now we have to move around your rankings or your vote in order for a candidate to come out on top. So with that being said, your vote will stay with your first choice or your favorite choice, um, unless that candidate comes in last place, gets the least amount of, um, support, or gets the least amount of votes. That candidate is then eliminated from the race, and then your vote simply moves to your next choice. And that will continue to go on until somebody comes out on top as reaching again, that 50% plus 1 threshold or that majority vote.
[00:07:49.600] - Alicia Yass
Okay.
[00:07:50.710] - Amber Taylor
Um, and so when it comes to this, like what will happen to like some of the other candidates? So let's say like my, you know, my top choice doesn't happen.
[00:07:59.450] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yeah.
[00:08:00.010] - Amber Taylor
Um, so that means that all those other, like all my other votes get canceled out or like, what is, could you just explain a little bit more about what that means?
[00:08:07.570] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So they necessarily don't get canceled out how it kind of works is, um, when you're casting your ballot and you're choosing whoever your first choice is or whoever your favorite candidate is, your vote stays with that person unless or until a ranking needs to kick in, essentially. Um, so with that being said, it allows you the opportunity to say, I love this candidate, This is somebody that I really align with, somebody that I really want to see in this position, but I also really, really like these other people. Um, somebody else who's your second choice might be like, you know, they're really, really cool. I also align with their policies. This third person is like, mm, they alright, you know, I like them a little bit. But it essentially tells you that if this person doesn't get this position, then I'm also okay with these other people getting, um, this position. So. Instead of it getting rid of your votes, it moves them around according to your preferred ranking. It doesn't— your vote isn't eliminated or it doesn't go anywhere. It just makes sure that it moves according to your preferred ranking.
[00:09:22.060] - Alicia Yass
That makes a lot of sense.
[00:09:23.030] - Amber Taylor
And like, you know, I mean, we have to make those type of choices all the time. Like, you know, I, you know, I go to Giant and I want, you know, this particular loaf of bread and they don't got it. And now, you know, there's another choice that like I'm acceptable with.
[00:09:36.110] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Exactly.
[00:09:36.540] - Amber Taylor
And I'll go with that one.
[00:09:37.890] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yep. I think that that's also another thing that when people are trying to wrap their heads around what ranked choice voting is, is that we rank every single day. Like you said, when you go to the grocery store, you picking out bread or cereal, or, you know, even Pampers for your babies. Like that's something you are ranking. When you get up in the morning and you're trying to decide what you're going to wear to work, you're ranking because you might have a shirt that you're thinking about in your head and it's in the dirty laundry and now you gotta pick out something else. Choosing what you're gonna eat for breakfast or lunch or dinner, like you are ranking all of the time. It's just that now you're doing it with the rest of DC trying to decide what your, or who your elected officials are gonna be.
[00:10:25.230] - Alicia Yass
Awesome.
[00:10:26.110] - Amber Taylor
And so Ranked Choice Voting is gonna apply for all of the elections. So everything from like mayor down to ANC?
[00:10:32.270] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yeah, everything except for party committees, like local party committees. It's going to go all the way up to the presidential election as well.
[00:10:42.220] - Alicia Yass
When—
[00:10:43.090] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
yeah, when you're deciding who your president is going to be, it's going to go that far as well. So, okay, it's here to stay. It's going towards all of the different races.
[00:10:52.830] - Amber Taylor
Very, very cool. I'm curious, like, when you've been going— I mean, you've been going around the entire district talking and educating people about—
[00:11:00.090] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
God don't today—
[00:11:02.680] - Amber Taylor
talking to people about what That is ranked choice voting. Could you talk a little bit about what are some of the stories you've been hearing from people, or maybe some of the myths that we can set the record straight for?
[00:11:14.070] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So, and this one kind of grinds my gears. When I first started doing this work, one thing that I heard a lot from people who were kind of naysayers, or they didn't necessarily agree with it, which I understand. Um, they said that DC people wouldn't be able to learn it.
[00:11:39.190] - Amber Taylor
Hmm.
[00:11:40.050] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
And that really struck a chord for me because to me it kind of spelled out that people thought that DC people weren't smart enough to be able to, to, to figure it out or to learn about ranked choice voting. Um, Anything new is gonna be a learning curve, period, for anybody, no matter what you're learning. But ranked choice voting is actually very, very simple. When I'm out, especially with my seniors, I love, you know, going to talk to the seniors. They understand it. They get it when we're practicing on mock ballots and filling them out. They know how to fill out their ballots. It's very rare that we come across somebody that fills it out wrong. And even if they do, You know, we'll hand them another one. We'll sit there and work with them and they'll, they'll figure it out very, very quickly. It's very simple. I think that people try to wrap their heads around things that, um, they're trying to wrap their heads around the whole thing rather than dealing with what's directly in front of them, which is actually filling out their ballot. And everybody wants to understand where their votes are going, which is understandable and something that I feel like all of us need to be concerned about.
[00:12:58.100] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
And our organization, especially with League of Women Voters of D.C., are always willing to have those conversations with people because people deserve to know that. But I just think that people are perfectly smart enough to be able to figure it out. People have been navigating D.C. politics for decades, and D.C. has a very robust political landscape anyways because there's so many people running for things like ANC or, you know, other positions and things like that. Like, they understand what to do. It's just making sure that we're sitting down with them, understand, making them understand why this is happening, how this came to fruition, and really just making it a conversation rather than like a, like me convincing them that this is happening. Like, I don't really spend too much time on that because it's like, this is— it's law.
[00:13:57.100] - Amber Taylor
It's happening.
[00:13:57.750] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
It's happening. You have to do this. I think another thing, at least in regards to myths that I've heard, people saying like, oh, if you only fill out like one person or you only rank one person on your ballot, then that's going to disqualify you in the race or it's going to disqualify your vote. That's not true. You can rank only one person if you choose to. Now, me in my capacity as somebody who's working in civic education, yeah, is trying— I want to encourage people to rank multiple candidates because that's what will make your vote last longer in the race. Um, however, if you choose to only vote for one person or rank one person because that's the only person that you support, that's just perfectly fine. Your ballot will still count.
[00:14:53.270] - Amber Taylor
Well, that's really good to know. So like, you know, you— ideally people would like fill out what— people can vote up to like 5 candidates, right?
[00:15:01.130] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Up to 5.
[00:15:02.050] - Amber Taylor
So ideally people could vote up to 5 candidates, but you know, if I'm like, I am this candidate or bust, I can still do that.
[00:15:09.810] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
You can still do that. Like, like I said, again, again, you want people to vote and exercise multiple people on your ballot just because we wanna make sure that, uh, your full voice is heard and considered in regards to who you're comfortable with seeing in these positions. And having those types of opinions, um, is very important for especially election seasons like this. But yeah, if you wanted to vote for one person, that's fine. If you only wanted to rank 2, 3 people, that's also okay. it'll all be counted.
[00:15:46.340] - Alicia Yass
Very good.
[00:15:47.280] - Amber Taylor
I mean, like, and also DC elections are, you know, this still is a part of like our very safe and secure voting system, right? Like, um, I, I'm really proud of the fact that DC has like such a robust voting system here the residents can take advantage of. Um, but I'm also curious, like, when it comes to election night, where I think like most people are used to polls close and within a few hours typically we're able to get the results of election, right? Um, how will ranked-choice voting change that in terms of like who deciding on who will actually be the winner?
[00:16:18.990] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
As far as I know, according to the D.C. Board of Elections, that is still going to be the case. They still plan that night to show the preemptive results and what they look like. And similar to how traditional, um, elections go, it'll take up to 10 days for them to solidify the actual results or the final results because they have to count the mail-in ballots and everything like that. So It'll still work pretty much in the same way. It's just the only thing that's different is that it's a new system. So for people who are going in person to vote, it'll take a little bit longer. If you're at home with a mail-in ballot, you know, because you're ranking multiple people, it might take you a little bit longer to work through the ballot. Also, another thing that I've heard, um, people have trouble with in the past is that they don't flip the ballot over. Oh, so in, in your mind, you would think naturally people would do that, but we have to tell people, make sure that you're filling out both sides of the ballot. Um, but yes, it'll work in the same way.
[00:17:23.500] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Like you'll still get those preemptive results and then there will be a date later on where result, where election results will be finalized.
[00:17:30.890] - Alicia Yass
Very good.
[00:17:32.320] - Amber Taylor
Very good to know. Um, and I'm also curious both in terms of Um, you know, for like, as people are filling out their ballot, like when they're, when, when they are particularly going in person to vote, um, you said a little bit about like, you know, it might take a little bit of time. Should like people anticipate a little bit, you know, longer of a process or just bank for a little bit more time or like how should people expect things to go when they're voting in person?
[00:17:56.760] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
I will advise people to block out a little bit more of your time because again, Using ranked choice, because, because it acts as like an instant runoff, you have to take your time in deciding who it is that once again, you're comfortable with in regards to like voting or ranking your favorite candidates. So taking your time, really trying to make sure that you're looking and filling out the ballot correctly. Um, That's really, really important. So yes, please do block out times. We do anticipate that it's going to take a little bit longer than usual for people to cast their ballots. So make sure that you just be prepared. Yes, absolutely.
[00:18:44.760] - Amber Taylor
I'm also curious, like, as you've been going around the district talking with various, you know, various communities and constituents. Yeah. What's been like one either like the funniest or like wildest things that people have been like bringing up to you? Yeah. As like you've been explaining what ranked choice voting is. Oh.
[00:19:01.350] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
What is the wildest thing? Um, I would say, I think it's more in just like seeing people's reactions to it. Like, again, there are people who don't like agree with ranked choice voting. And again, I can't stress enough that that is perfectly like fine. And that is something that I actually encourage. Because if you're skeptical about it, it's going to push you to do more research on it and learn about it for yourself. And the whole reason why I'm doing what I'm doing is for people to encourage themselves to learn more. So there are people who, you know, they're a little bit crotchety about, you know, ranked choice voting. And, you know, we've seen people react adversely. I'm trying to think of a specific time. I remember going to, um, to Model City's, um, senior wellness center, and there was, uh, a lady there who we were teaching. And at first she was like, I don't get this. I don't know what this is. I don't know why this is even happening. Why y'all even talking about it? And at first I was nervous because I was like, oh my God, she gonna be a disruption for the, the presentation.
[00:20:20.860] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Like, we don't want her to I don't want to, you know, ruin this for everybody else. But, um, somebody that I was with, um, with another organization, her name is, um, Kenyatta Smith, love her so much. Uh, she has a background in teaching. Um, the way that she was able to rein that in and be able to talk to her and who she is and also be able to relate it back to, um, past elections and using that as like a mock, um, example, like the election with Marion Barry. And, uh, how it would work in that case and seeing the candidates there, she instantly got it. And then also doing it, um, in community with other people and having people learn together also provides like a system of accountability, um, for people to learn things. And me being, you know, an educator, I might not be able to explain something in the same way that somebody who is close to you, who knows you, who sits with you every day, um, they might be— they might get it but be able to explain it to you in a way that, because I don't know you, I wouldn't be able to reach you.
[00:21:32.170] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So having that experience, while it was like a little nerve-wracking, it was actually very eye-opening, and I learned a lot from that. And I learned a lot from, um, Kenyatta Um, because it was just one of those things where it was like an aha moment for somebody. And I think that that's one of my favorite, favorite things is like watching people kind of be like, mm, and go from that and be like, oh, I get it. Like, that makes sense. And being able to explain it back to you. Um, so yeah, doing, doing the education piece of it all is something that I never thought that I would go into in regards to my career, but it's something that I think I'm gonna always be eternally grateful for. I'm blessed to be able to, you know, talk to folks on that level and honestly give back to DC in that way because, you know, I'm not from DC. I came from Kansas City, Kansas and Dallas, Texas, went to Howard and that's what brought me here. And I've just been here ever since. Moved here in 2017, um, and being able to grow up here as like an adult and become who I feel like I'm supposed to be, um, and having DC be so much of what that journey's looked like, being able to go out into the community and talk to them about this stuff, talking specifically with the seniors, um, trying to reach our youth and things like that.
[00:23:04.720] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Um, It's really, really good to see them have that moment and then also give them potentially something that could make their voices a little bit more heard. Because I know that that's also something that a lot of DC residents talk about is not feeling like the people who represent them currently, they don't feel like they're actually representing their interests. And what ranked choice voting brings to the table is a level of accountability. Instead of candidates splitting the votes and somebody getting like 20% of the vote or 30% of the vote, which means that 80% or 70% of people did not want that person in that seat. People have to earn the majority. Um, they have to get on your ballot. They have to advocate to you. They have to come to your ward, or they have to, um, make sure that their, their campaigns aren't just devoted to their traditional constituents. They have to get out into the community and talk to people and show them actual tangible results that they've been able to do for the city. Um, I think that that contributes largely to, again, like, what makes this, like, all important, even though, again, some people, you know, they, they feel a way about it.
[00:24:28.310] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
I get it.
[00:24:28.790] - Amber Taylor
But yeah, I think it's also an important reminder of, like, Voting is like, you know, in a democracy like this is one of our primary ways to make sure that our voices are heard in terms of like who's going to represent us in our government. And so if you don't like a particular candidate, you know, June 16th, 2025, 2026 is like, this is the time.
[00:24:50.720] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
This is the opportunity to do it. Like, this is one of the most consequential elections probably in the past, like 2, 3 decades for DC. Um, and so I get people being very apprehensive with this new system of voting. Um, but this, if you've never voted before, if you are not somebody who is politically engaged or civically engaged, there's to me no better time than now for you to get involved, for you to learn, feel free to understand the political land or, uh, playing field that is like going on in DC so that your voice is heard. Because this is something that provides that level of accountability and allows for people to have more of their voice be heard. Because it's literally, instead of just choosing one person and that being done with your vote, yeah, you get to actually Right? Multiple people, you can vote your conscience. You don't have to do the lesser of two evils thing and then worry about getting people in office who, um, don't represent you because now it's easier for them to be voted out.
[00:26:08.200] - Amber Taylor
So, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. And like, you know, the ACLU has a voter guide. I know the League has a great voter guide. Like, this— these are great things that people can take either, um, you know, to to take with them and help them inform, like when they're filling out the ballot at home or doing their homework before they go to fill out their ballot in person, to make sure that you're making informed decisions about who's going to be representing you.
[00:26:30.410] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Absolutely.
[00:26:32.040] - Amber Taylor
So I'm curious, like, if you could just like list maybe like, you know, 2 or 3 takeaways that like, if you're going into this election, like what are the things people absolutely need to remember before they cast their ballot?
[00:26:44.290] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Things you need to remember when you get that ballot: rank your favorite person in that first column, okay? Rank your favorite in that first column. Rank your backup choices. Again, you do not have to use all 5 choices if you do not want to. We encourage people to only rank the people that they support. And that's pretty much it. Like, the main thing is making sure that you know how to fill out that ballot correctly.
[00:27:19.890] - Amber Taylor
And that there's two sides of that ballot.
[00:27:21.360] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
There's two sides of the ballot. Flip it over. Flip the ballot over, please. Flip. Either way too. Flip. Flip it over. Fill it all out. If I may, like, there's— Like one other thing that I want people to remember, like filling out your ballot correctly is very, very important. One thing that I've seen or, um, have heard of people like trying to do is, um, they'll fill out, uh, multiple people for one particular ranking. Like they'll rank multiple candidates as like their first choice or rank multiple people as their second choice. Do not do that, um, because it doesn't add any value to your ballot. It actually just confuses the, the ballot reader, and they don't know how you are trying to rank. And so it will invalidate your, your vote for that particular election. Just make sure that you are filling it out, have a different choice for each column in each row.
[00:28:30.090] - Amber Taylor
Okay.
[00:28:30.810] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
So yes, make sure that you are filling out your ballots correctly. Flip it over, please. Please flip it over.
[00:28:39.570] - Amber Taylor
Is there anything other like don'ts people should do like when they're voting?
[00:28:43.230] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Um, do not skip. Um, a lot of people I've heard of try to do that in order to like punish candidates. The best way that you can punish a candidate is just not like submitting a vote or like ranking them on your ballot. If you don't like somebody, do not rank them. Um, but skipping, how it works is that you might rank somebody as your first choice. You will skip the second choice and then you'll rank somebody for your third, fourth, and fifth. What that will do is move that, um, it will move your third candidate or the person that you ranked as your third choice. It will move them to your second choice. Your fourth choice becomes your third choice and your fifth choice becomes your fourth choice. It just moves all of your rankings up.
[00:29:33.020] - Amber Taylor
Yeah.
[00:29:33.570] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Um, so don't skip. If you skip twice, like you have a ranking in the first category or in the first, um, column, and then you don't rank your second candidate, you don't rank your third candidate, but you have a fourth and a fifth. Um, that's gonna invalidate everything after that second skip. So you just have that one vote. We encourage people not to skip, like, at all. Um, also don't fill out or rank one candidate for all of your rankings because it doesn't give them any more of a vote. That essentially just translates as you only voting for or ranking one person, um, on your ballot. So Candidate A is marked as your first, second, third, 4th and 5th choice, again, that doesn't really do much for you. You just want to, you, if that's, if you only support that one person, just mark them as your favorite in that first column and it'll count all the same.
[00:30:35.770] - Amber Taylor
Makes a lot of sense. And then also for, uh, people who are trying to write in a candidate, how does that work?
[00:30:40.820] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Like, are you can write in the candidate? You just make sure that you, um, that you rank them according to whatever your preference is. If You write somebody in, there's already somebody on the ballot that you mark as your first, but you have a write-in candidate for your second choice. You write them in and then you mark them in the second column. So yeah, it works the same way.
[00:31:01.320] - Amber Taylor
Um, well, thank you. I think this gives me like a good overview and that all of our listeners a good overview, like what they need to do in the D.C. election. But I'm also curious, I guess like one of our last questions of like, what about like living in D.C. do you really like love? Like what's something that you want people to like, you know, give a shout out to in terms of like a part of DC culture or, you know, part of DC that you, that you really care about?
[00:31:25.290] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Um, one thing that I love about DC is that you, it's impossible to be bored in DC. Like it is literally impossible to be bored. You could literally like walk down the street and stumble into a professional happy hour or something like that, or a networking event, or even like just a festival, a farmer's market, like somebody's always doing something, live music. DC is a city with a lot of soul. It is very much so alive. I love this city, man. I genuinely do. I do a lot. There's a lot here that, um, you know, I'm always talking to my family back home about and trying to let them know, like, This is, I love me some DC now. They try to get me to come home and stuff. Like my sister, she's been trying to convince me to go out and, um, live in Houston with her. Uh, and then my dad, he lives in Dallas. He's been trying to, um, him and my stepmom have been talking about coming back home and I've thought about it, but I don't know, doing this work specifically. It's like, I kind of feel like my, my heart is here now.
[00:32:44.910] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Like it's impossible to kind of pull myself away in a lot of ways that I think about it, just because I've gotten to know people so much more and I've gotten to know DC so much more specifically in doing this work. Obviously just living here for 10, almost 10 years, I've learned a lot about DC, but doing this, talking to people, having conversations, learning their history, um, it's really created an attachment for me. So yeah, I love me some DC.
[00:33:20.880] - Amber Taylor
Oh, we love to see it, we'd love to see it. Well, thank you so much for, for joining us today and educating us on ranked choice voting.
[00:33:27.940] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Of course, anytime. Anybody needs some RCV education, Y'all know where to go. Yes, I'm always down for it.
[00:33:35.930] - Amber Taylor
We loved it. Yeah, and also RCV, that's like the, the cool, yeah, the cool slang for ranked choice voting. Yes. Well, thanks for chatting with us today.
[00:33:45.750] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Thank you for having me. It was, this was lovely. Uh, this was a really, really good conversation.
[00:33:59.970] - Amber Taylor
Hey, Alicia.
[00:34:02.200] - Alicia Yass
Hey, Amber. Nice to see you again outside the office. I know, always good to be here with you.
[00:34:07.010] - Amber Taylor
Well, look, I feel for people who don't know, could you talk a little bit about like yourself and like the role that you do at the ACLU of DC?
[00:34:14.810] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, absolutely. So I've been with the ACLU DC as an employee for a little over a year, but I've been a longtime supporter of the ACLU in general and was so excited to join the team I work in our policy advocacy. I'm the director of our policy advocacy department. So that means working with the D.C. Council on legislation we support and, you know, trying to convince them not to vote through legislation we don't support. It also has expanded to a lot more congressional work as Congress has been exercising their authority over D.C. that they have through the Home Rule Act. And so sort of working on those two parallel levels. Of legislation, of policy, of advocating to elected offices about what issues DC cares about and what the ACLU thinks should be happening on these issues that are affecting all of us here in DC.
[00:35:07.070] - Amber Taylor
Yeah, and I think like, you know, it's important to, of course, like shape the conversation that's happening in the legislature, but, you know, people have the ability to vote for who is actually in the legislature, which I think is where the ACLU comes in. So like, what's our role when it comes to to, um, voting, um, and what we're hoping to do in this election.
[00:35:24.620] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, absolutely. So the ACLU DC is a nonpartisan organization. Um, but we want people to vote. That is a right people have under the Constitution to vote and elect the people who are gonna represent them. And we want people to know about that right, how they exercise that right, how they can make sure they're prepared to do so. Um, so we have a couple of different things that we've been doing to help with that. Um, I do wanna be clear, we do not endorse candidates. But we want people to have the information they need from the candidates and about the candidates and about the issues at large so that they can make those educated decisions about who they're going to vote for. Um, so we have worked really hard, my department, your department, to put together, um, a website for folks to be able to go to that outlines in very basic, simple language what they need to do to vote. So how they can register, how they can show up and vote in person, or what we're actually encouraging folks to to do, everyone in DC who is registered to vote will get a ballot mailed to them at home.
[00:36:24.720] - Alicia Yass
And that ballot can either be mailed back or drop boxes are set up all across the city where people can drop it. Those are going out May 11th, so people can start looking for them after that and then exercise their right to vote that way. Then you don't have to worry about waiting in line and you don't have to worry about any of those things that might happen if you go to the polling place. However, we also have the information up For people who do want to go to the polling place, I know a lot of people, it's almost like sentimental to go and do it in person. We are also being aware of potential for intimidation at the polls though, which is one of the reasons we are encouraging folks to stay home since we have been seeing so much federal interference here in D.C. You know, if that's a concern for people, vote by your mail-in ballot, drop off ballot, and then you don't even have to worry about it. So we're making sure people have that information. We're making sure people have information about the candidates. We did a candidate questionnaire for several of the races happening in this election for the primary that is coming up here in June.
[00:37:25.520] - Alicia Yass
It's a lot of candidates in some of these races. And I understand that it can be hard for people to get the information they want. So we asked questions, we polled our members, looked for what they were interested in. We know the issues that people are always engaging with the ACLU DC in criminal justice reform, civil rights and civil liberties issues at large, and sort of how is policing measured. First Amendment rights, immigration, the federal interference.
[00:37:55.310] - Amber Taylor
Yeah, the congressional interference that we were saying, like, you know, the need for DC statehood.
[00:37:58.690] - Alicia Yass
Yes. So all these issues. So we asked the candidates these questions. In the different races, there were slightly different versions of the questions based on what the roles of the office they're trying to get to are. Um, but giving the voter information that they can look to and compare the candidates to make the decisions. Um, and then of course, big thing this year is the, in this primary is, uh, ranked choice voting is being rolled out for the first time. Um, it sounds scary. I think people are intimidated by it. It's really not that complicated. And we have information up on the website to help explain it, but you get to rank up to 5 candidates. So your top 5 choices. I mean, I think you can think about it if you're like going to a restaurant and you're like, what are my 5 favorite things here? And you rank them. That's the same thing with the candidates. So all that information is up on our website for people to explore before they vote and make sure they can make educated decisions on the candidate they choose.
[00:38:48.680] - Amber Taylor
Amazing.
[00:38:49.380] - Alicia Yass
Yeah.
[00:38:50.280] - Amber Taylor
Well, look, I mean, I know that we did this candidate questionnaire. Could you talk to me about like what are some things that we learned from the candidates? Like also like we told every, you know, all the major races from attorney general to the mayor to, um, uh, the House, the new whoever's gonna be this, the new delegates. Yeah, this is a big election for DC.
[00:39:12.730] - Alicia Yass
Yeah. I mean, first let's give some props to Eleanor Holmes Norton for doing a great job for a very long time. And, you know, and a Black woman representing DC obviously was really important. Um, she has done, I mean, her career at large is amazing, but like, you know, she has been there for DC. Um, but yeah, it's an exciting time to have turnover, have sort of new energy come into that office. So yeah, the delegate race is a big one. Mayor, yeah, we have had the same mayor for 3 terms, so that changing over is also a big deal. Um, and then yes, we also did Attorney General, um, the council members who are running, um, that are the, just the wards that are up. And, um, yeah, and we got answers from the candidates to a number of different questions. We asked them about things, um, such as, you know, juvenile justice. We know that the curfew legislation has been a big issue in D.C., so dealing with that. We asked questions about supporting D.C. statehood and how various rules would stand up to the current federal administration that is really trying to limit how D.C. exercises its autonomy.
[00:40:19.430] - Alicia Yass
We also talked about, like, to the mayor, you know, really like bringing together all the D.C. agencies that serve our community and what they would do to make sure the pieces of the community are served, looking at federal officer accountability and what we in the district can do about that, or, you know, how these elected officials would stand up for that. So we asked a wide range of questions, um, and you've got some really interesting answers. Um, so I do encourage people to read in detail. I think we're going to talk about a couple of them that sort of stood out to me, but you know, what might stand out to somebody else might be different. Um, what I care about when I vote might be different than what somebody else cares about when they vote.
[00:40:58.640] - Amber Taylor
Amazing. And just as a reminder, everybody, they can go to our website at acludc.org/vote2026 to check out all this information along with everything from where they can vote, how to vote, how to register to vote, and where different polling locations and drop boxes are for mail-in voting.
[00:41:17.860] - Alicia Yass
Exactly. Great.
[00:41:19.080] - Amber Taylor
So let's get into the candidates.
[00:41:20.490] - Alicia Yass
So the questions, yeah. So I, you know, some things that really stood out to me that were interesting. We had a lot of things that our candidates agreed on, sort of on the high level. So we asked some yes/no questions and it would be a lot of the same answers, but then when we asked for explanation, we might get a little bit of different answers among the candidates in the explanation. So I think one thing that was the same across the board, which is very exciting for me personally, is we asked every single candidate in all of those races, do you support holding federal law enforcement agents accountable when they break the law? Every single candidate who responded said yes, they want to hold federal agents accountable. So, and if you don't know what that means, it's basically if an ICE agent, uh, violates the law, breaks down somebody's door without a warrant or things like that, should there be repercussions? Should there be a way to hold them accountable? And every single candidate who answered our, uh, candidate questionnaire said yes. Um, some interesting things, you know, that they said that was sort of I saw repeating in their answers are no one is above the law.
[00:42:23.740] - Alicia Yass
We've got to protect our communities from anyone who breaks the law, no matter who they are. And officers are in a role where they actually have a duty to uphold the law. So then this sort of hypocrisy of them violating the law really stands out. So I thought that was really a strong point that we have all of these candidates who really want to take that seriously and take the fact that, you know, law enforcement have a lot of responsibility and that they need to understand that when when they're exercising their job and going out on the streets. So I thought that was good. Another thing that I thought was interesting that I saw repeated in a lot of different answers in various different topics was that a lot of our candidates, a lot of these candidates are looking for evidence-based solutions to the problems that we asked them about. So they related that to public safety. They related that to housing. They related that to cost of living issues that people are having as, you know, prices keep going up for all of us. And also for supporting our youth, how, how we can engage with our youth and make sure they're integrated into the full D.C. community.
[00:43:27.890] - Alicia Yass
So looking for evidence-based solutions was something that was repeated over and over again, which is really good. I mean, obviously we want to be doing things that we know will work and we know are going to actually help the D.C. community and the members of it thrive. I also thought something that was repeated over and over again, not everyone made it as strong of a point, but many candidates really talked about supporting D.C. autonomy. And protecting D.C. residents from federal interference. One thing that sort of stood out to me is that there were 9 candidates responded in the mayor's race. 5 of those 9 specifically mentioned fighting for D.C. statehood. So not just holding on to what we have, but pushing for more and pushing for what the residents of D.C. deserve to be full members of our democracy. So I thought those were all really interesting points that came out. Um, yeah, and, and overall it was, it was a lot of shades of gray with the candidates. They had, um, similar high-level, um, thoughts, but then on issues like supporting youth, for example, we had some candidates talk about education, job training, programming, and others who actually raised this idea of more support and education for parents to allow parents to be more, um, actively involved, um, and sort of a lot of the candidates referenced sort of the integrated nature of how all of these issues play into each other.
[00:44:48.450] - Alicia Yass
So like cost of living increases, you know, lead into the ways that parents can be there for their children because they might be working multiple jobs and everything sort of falls into each other and saw that idea repeated in a lot of the answers.
[00:45:01.530] - Amber Taylor
I'm curious if there was anything that was like stood out to you or you found interesting in the candidate questionnaires.
[00:45:07.830] - Brandon Bush-Thompson
Yeah.
[00:45:08.170] - Amber Taylor
Responses.
[00:45:08.970] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, yeah. I mean, there were just some, like, interesting ideas that came out. I mean, there was one of the candidates for mayor, Goss, has an idea for sort of a new program that he calls Human Life Standard. And the anchor of that is combining a couple of our federal— not federal, a couple of our D.C. agencies under one overarching agency so that they're better connected. The department, it would be called the Department of Public Safety and Government Operations, and it would align all of the emergency response services together and have oversight built in, which was just an interesting concept. Uh, I don't know enough about it, uh, to really talk in specifics, but just knowing that some of these candidates are coming up with interesting and innovative ideas and putting them out there, I think is really, um, important for people to see. I also personally like, um, our Attorney General here in DC does a lot of the juvenile prosecution. So as we're talking about these juvenile issues, curfew and youth crime, those sorts of things. What the AG candidates say about how they're going to deal with that is really important. Um, and this is again where candidates spoke to evidence-based solutions, um, doing diversion programs, um, doing things like restorative justice.
[00:46:22.020] - Alicia Yass
They mentioned that, which is something that we've mentioned in a lot of our work as well. So knowing that the candidates are behind this, and this was, uh, candidates, because again, this This is the primary, so we were looking at candidates in all three parties that are running and we did get candidates responding from all three parties. So looking at the differences between their answers and yet also looking at the similarities was really interesting to see.
[00:46:45.860] - Amber Taylor
Same. I'm also curious, as the election is growing nearer, what are, as they tell you, particularly concerned about or paying attention to as we're heading into the election season?
[00:46:58.260] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, I mean, we want to make sure everyone exercises their right to vote, number one. Um, everyone who is allowed to vote should be able to find a way to vote, and we want to make sure people do that. Um, as I mentioned, we are also concerned about voter intimidation at the polls. I mean, whether that be, um, because DC allows non-citizen voting. Um, so residents of the district who may not have citizenship status have the right to vote, and we don't want ICE or National Guard intimidating them from doing so. So really making sure people know about this avenue they have to still vote, but not necessarily go to a polling place, is really important. We also just want to make sure people have as much information as they need to make their decisions. This election matters, as we talked about at the beginning. There's so many new— there's so much turnover in these offices that hasn't happened in a long time. So it's really an opportunity for the residents of D.C. to to tell the electors what they want. I mean, that's the point of the elections. You're holding people responsible. If your current incumbent candidate is not doing what you want them to do, this is your opportunity to say that by voting for somebody else.
[00:48:12.380] - Alicia Yass
Um, so whether that means you do your vote and that's it, or you campaign, get involved, there's so many ways that, that people can be engaged in these elections, but knowing that these local, um, can to these local offices are really what manage the day-to-day lives of DC. It's what makes the decisions about funding for all of the DC agencies. So how, how are the police funded? How are schools funded? How are our parks funded? All of these things are coming from the DC Council and then, you know, through management with the mayor's office. It's so, it's really important. Um, the Attorney General is our voice of the DC people in the DC legal system. That's basically the only voice we have in the D.C.
[00:48:52.670] - Amber Taylor
legal system.
[00:48:53.230] - Alicia Yass
We don't pick our judges or the U.S. attorneys. So the Attorney General is that voice for the people of D.C. and making sure that voice represents us is really important.
[00:49:04.080] - Amber Taylor
And then I'm also curious, like, what would you want people to remember as they're heading into the polls? Either or, you know, or if they're heading, um, if they're getting ready to vote in this election, if they're voting by mail.
[00:49:15.150] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, I think there's a lot of candidates, I think, there's always sort of a couple that get more media coverage or sort of dominating a lot of the conversation, but there's a lot of candidates. So look at them all. Like, don't get bogged down in just the names you might know. Look at all the candidates, know all your choices, particularly when we have this new ranked choice system. You're getting to pick up to 5 candidates, so that's a lot. Um, use that choice wisely, make yourself familiar with The ranked choice voting, I think most people are either very scared of it or think it's too easy, but you want to know what you're doing before you look at your ballot. Make sure you fill it out properly. You don't want to do anything that's going to make your ballot discounted, anything like that. So it's not hard, but it's also so easy to mess up. So making sure people are aware of what they need to do and taking the responsibility seriously, I think Obviously, we have limited representation in DC because we don't have elected members, we don't have a voting member in the House, and we don't have any senators.
[00:50:18.870] - Alicia Yass
So we need to really take seriously these offices that we do get to elect to make sure they're pushing for the things that we want. Amazing.
[00:50:28.020] - Amber Taylor
Well, I'm also like, just one other question for you, like if you can take your ACLU hat off for a second, like what's something that you love about the district or something that's like, that's bringing you joy as like your as a District resident?
[00:50:40.310] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, I mean, I've been really enjoying just the food scene recently. I think we've got so much good food here in the District from so many different cultures, so many different places. You can go really highbrow and like fancy. You can go really cas. We've got it all covered. And I always call— I call— we have José Andrés here in D.C., the patron saint of D.C. I think he's a really good supporter of D.C., right? He's got a lot of amazing restaurants that I always love, and I think he's even opening up some new ones that I've got to try. So love the food scene here in DC, particularly when it's nicer weather and we can, you know, eat outside.
[00:51:18.230] - Amber Taylor
Amazing. Well, thank you so much for talking with us, Alicia, and educating people on like what the, the candidates are, or, um, how they responded to our questionnaire. Yeah.
[00:51:26.770] - Alicia Yass
And yeah, definitely take a look, look at it all yourself. I covered a teeny fraction of the information that we have from these candidate questionnaires.
[00:51:34.620] - Amber Taylor
Yes. And as a reminder to our listeners, that you can go to acludc.org/vote2026 to learn, to see our candidate questionnaire results, and also to see and learn more about your voting rights and how and when you can vote.
[00:51:49.850] - Alicia Yass
Yeah, absolutely.
[00:51:51.640] - Amber Taylor
Thank you so much.
[00:51:52.570] - Alicia Yass
Thank you.
[00:51:53.570] - Amber Taylor
That's it for this episode of A More Perfect District, a podcast from the ACLU of DC. I'm Amber Taylor. I'm Tujah Communications Director. Thanks for spending time with us. Join us next time as we break down the civil rights and civil liberties issues impacting Washington, D.C. For show notes and ways to take action right now, visit acludc.org/podcast. And don't forget to follow, rate, and share this podcast to help more people stay informed. Till next time.