Election administration in Washington, D.C.

Election Information


Voting in 2023
Voter registration
Early voting
Absentee/mail-in voting
All-mail voting
Voter ID laws
State poll opening and closing times

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Election administration encompasses voting policies and methods of enforcing them. These include voter identification requirements, early and absentee voting provisions, voter list maintenance methods, and more. Each election jurisdiction's voting policies dictate who can vote and under what conditions.

THE BASICS

Washington, D.C. permits online voter registration.

D.C. permits early voting and no-excuse absentee voting.

In D.C., polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

D.C. does not require identification to vote.

D.C. holds closed primary elections.

D.C. has tools for verifying voter registration and checking the status of absentee and provisional (special) ballots.

Below, you will find details on the following election administration topics in D.C.:

Poll times
Voter registration
Early and absentee/mail-in voting policy^[1]
Voter identification requirements
Provisional ballot rules
Primary election type
Time off work for voting
Voting rules for people convicted of a felony
Voter list maintenance
Post-election auditing
Election administration agencies

Poll times

See also: State poll opening and closing times

Polls in D.C. are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.^[2]

Voter registration

To register in D.C., an individual must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of D.C. for at least 30 days before the election, and not claim residence in any other state or territory. Pre-registration is available starting 16 years old, but all voters must be 18 by Election Day in order to vote.

Voters may register online or by mailing, emailing, or faxing in a voter registration application. Voters may also register in person at a voter registration agency. The deadline to register to vote is 21 days before the election, but in-person registration is also available during the early voting period and on Election Day with proof of residency.^[3]

All first-time registrants must provide proof of residency in order to register to vote. Click here for a list of accepted documents.

Automatic registration

D.C. practices automatic voter registration. ^[4]

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Washington, D.C. has implemented an online voter registration system. Click here to register to vote online. Online registration forms must be submitted at least 21 days before the election.^[3]

Same-day registration

D.C. permits same-day voter registration. Click here for more details.

Residency requirements

Registrants in D.C. must be residents for at least 30 days prior to the election they intend to vote in.^[3]

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

D.C. does not require verification of U.S. citizenship upon registering to vote.

Verifying your registration

Individuals can use this website to check and/or update the status of their registration.

Early and absentee voting policy

Early voting

See also: Early voting

D.C. permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

Absentee voting

See also: Absentee voting

As of May 2023, the District of Columbia used all-mail voting.^[5]

According to the D.C. Board of Elections, all active registered voters were mailed a ballot for the 2020 and 2022 elections. However, D.C. voters who expected to be away from their D.C. residence during the election were required to request an absentee ballot: Mail Ballot Request Form. Voters DID NOT have to request an absentee/mail-in ballot unless they planned to be away from their D.C. residence during the election.^[5]

Requests for absentee ballots must be received no later than the fifteenth day before the election. Ballots are delivered to absentee voters by mail. Completed absentee/mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the seventh day after the election.^[5]

Returning absentee ballots

See also: Mail ballot collection and return laws by state

Completed absentee/mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the seventh day after the election.^[5]

Signature requirements and cure provisions

D.C. does not have a cure provision, or a law providing for a process where voters can correct certain issues with their absentee/mail-in ballot. See Regulation 3-720.^[5]

Was your absentee ballot counted?

The D.C. Board of Elections provides a tool voters can use to track the status of their absentee ballot. Click here to track your absentee ballot.

Voter identification requirements

See also: Voter ID in Washington, D.C.

See also: Voter identification laws by state

Washington, D.C. does not require identification from most voters. The D.C. Board of Elections requires voters who submitted their registration applications online or by mail to present one of the following documents the first time they vote.

This list was current as of May 2023 Click here to ensure you have the most current information.

“

Acceptable forms of proof of residence include the following (must include the name and address of the voter):

Valid District of Columbia DMV-issued ID
Government check or paycheck*
Bank statement*
Current utility bill (does not include cell phone)*
Student housing statement/tuition bill
Homeless shelter occupancy statement
Residential Lease
Other current government document that shows your name and address

*The issue, bill, or statement date must be within 90 days of Election Day^[6]

”

Background

As of August 2023, 34 states required voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day. Of these states, 23 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, and 11 accepted other forms of identification. The remaining 16 states did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day. Valid forms of identification differ by state. Commonly accepted forms include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.^[7]^[8]

Provisional ballot rules

The District of Columbia Board of Elections states that voters may be instructed to cast special ballots (known as provisional ballots in other locations), or ballots requiring additional steps or information before they can be counted, under the following circumstances. Under each circumstance, the board provides additional details, including steps that need to be taken before the ballot can be counted.^[9]

“

A voter may need to vote a Special Ballot if they:

Return to an Early Vote Center or Election Day Vote Center after previously checking in to vote at an Early Vote Center or Election Day Vote Center
Previously submitted an application for an Absentee Ballot
Have already returned a voted Mail-In Ballot
Are required to show identification or proof of residence to complete their voter registration, but fail to provide it
During a Primary Election, claim a different party affiliation status than that which is reflected on their voter registration
During a General Election, claim a different ANC/SMD than that which is reflected on their voter registration
Have had a challenge to their eligibility to vote upheld by the Vote Center Coordinator or a Board hearing examiner
Are voting during hours extended by either a Board or court order^[6]

”

Was your provisional ballot counted?

According to the D.C. Board of Elections, "All Special Ballots that have been determined to be valid are counted even if they do not change the outcome of the election. The day after Election Day, you may visit the Special Ballot Status page of our website, or call 1-866-DC VOTES (1-866-328-6837), to learn of the Board’s preliminary determination to either count or reject your Special Ballot.

Local election officials

Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool.

Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker

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The Ballot Bulletin

The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy. The Ballot Bulletin tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker. You'll also be able to track relevant legislation, with links to and summaries of the bills themselves.

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Primary election type

Washington, D.C. holds closed primary elections, meaning only voters registered as members of a party may vote in that party's primary elections. Registered voters must change party affiliation at least 21 days prior to an election in order to vote in the primary of a party different from the one they were registered with. Those registering to vote at a polling location on the same day they are voting may select their party affiliation at that time.^[10]

Time off work for voting

Ballotpedia did not find a law specifying whether voters must be given time off from work to vote in the District of Columbia. If you know of a relevant policy in D.C., please email us.

As of 2020, 28 states had laws requiring employers to provide time off for voting under certain conditions.

Voting rules for people convicted of a felony

See also: Voting rights for convicted felons

In Washington, D.C., people convicted of a felony and currently incarcerated retain their right to vote.^[11]

Voting rights for people convicted of a felony vary from state to state. In the majority of states, people convicted of a felony cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.^[12]

Voter list maintenance

All states have rules under which they maintain voter rolls—or, check and remove certain names from their lists of registered voters. Most states are subject to the parameters set by The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).^[13] The NVRA requires states to make efforts to remove deceased individuals and individuals who have become ineligible due to a change of address. It prohibits removing registrants from voter lists within 90 days of a federal election due to change of address unless a registrant has requested to be removed, or from removing people from voter lists solely because they have not voted. The NVRA says that states may remove names from their registration lists under certain other circumstances and that their methods for removing names must be uniform and nondiscriminatory.^[14]

When names can be removed from the voter list

The DCBOE may cancel a voter's registration under the following circumstances:^[4]

A signed request from the registrant
Notification of the registrant's death
Notification of a registrant’s incarceration for a felony conviction
Notification that the registrant has registered in another jurisdiction
If the registrant does not respond to an address confirmation notice and does not vote within two federal general election cycles

Inactive voter list rules

The DCBOE sends address confirmation notices in January of odd-numbered years to any registrant "who did not confirm his or her address through the voting process or file a change of address at the polls in the preceding general election." If the postal service returns the notice as undeliverable or with a new non-D.C. address for the registrant, the registrant is placed on the inactive list until they either confirm/update their address through the notice process or vote in a subsequent election. Registrants are removed from the voter list if they do neither within two federal general election cycles.^[4]

The DCBOE may also use data from the United States Postal Service, the National Change of Address System, and the Department of Motor Vehicles to identify registrants who may have moved.^[4]

The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)

See also: Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)

According to its website, ERIC is a nonprofit corporation that is governed by a board of member-states. These member states submit voter registration and motor vehicle registration information to ERIC. ERIC uses this information, as well as Social Security death records, to provide member states with detailed reports showing voters who have moved within their state, moved out of their state, died, have duplicate registrations in their state, or are potentially eligible to vote but are not yet registered. ERIC's website describes its funding as follows: "Each state pays annual dues, which are determined by a formula approved by the ERIC membership. The formula includes a state's citizen voting age population as a factor."^[15]

By 2022, 33 states and the District of Columbia had joined ERIC. As of August 2023, 26 states and the District of Columbia were members in the ERIC program.^[16]

As of April 2023, the District of Columbia and 26 states participated in ERIC.

Post-election auditing

D.C. law requires post-election audits. The Board of Elections audits at least 5 percent of precincts and 5 percent of records tabulated centrally, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). At least two ward-wide races and one district-wide race is audited. The date of the audit must be announced within three business days of when tabulation is complete. If an error rate greater than 0.25 percent or 20 percent of the margin of victory (whichever is less) is found and not attributable to marking errors, the board conducts a second count. "If the 2nd count confirms the discrepancy, another precinct in each ward where the contest appeared and an additional 5% of centrally tabulated ballots are audited. If the discrepancy is still there, all ballots with that contest are recounted," according to NCSL.

Post-election audits check that election results tallied by a state's voting system match results from paper records, such as paper ballots filled out by voters or the paper records produced by electronic voting machines. Post-election audits are classified into two categories: audits of election results—which include traditional post-election audits as well as risk-limiting audits—and procedural audits.^[12]^[17]

Typically, traditional post-election audits are done by recounting a portion of ballots, either electronically or by hand, and comparing the results to those produced by the state's voting system. In contrast, risk-limiting audits use statistical methods to compare a random sample of votes cast to election results instead of reviewing every ballot. The scope of procedural audits varies by state, but they typically include a systematic review of voting equipment, performance of the voting system, vote totals, duties of election officials and workers, ballot chain of custody, and more.

As of December 2023, 41 states and the District of Columbia required some form of post-election audit. Of these, 36 states and the District of Columbia required traditional post-election audits, three states required risk-limiting post-election audits, and two states required procedural post-election audits.^[18]

Election administration agencies

Election agencies

Seal of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission

See also: State election agencies

Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in D.C. can contact the following local and federal agencies.

District of Columbia Board of Elections

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200

Washington, DC 20001

Telephone: 301-563-3919

Toll free: 1-866-747-1471

Ballotpedia's election coverage

Click the tiles below to navigate to 2023 election coverage, or use the map below:

Democratic primaries 2024

Republican primaries 2024

External links

D.C. Board of Elections

Footnotes

↑ We use the term "absentee/mail-in voting" to describe systems in which requests or applications are required. We use the term "all-mail voting" to denote systems where the ballots themselves are sent automatically to all voters. We use the hyphenate term for absentee voting because some states use “mail voting” (or a similar alternative) to describe what has traditionally been called "absentee voting."
↑ D.C. Board of Elections, "Election Day Vote Centers," accessed May 5, 2023
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 District of Columbia Board of Elections, "Register/Update Voter Registration," accessed May 5, 2023
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 D.C. Law Library, "Code of the District of Columbia § 1–1001.07. Voter," accessed May 5, 2023
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 DC Board of Elections, "Mail Ballot Request," accessed May 5, 2023
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Identification Requirements|Voter ID Laws," March 9, 2023
↑ The Washington Post, "Do I need an ID to vote? A look at the laws in all 50 states," October 27, 2014
↑ District of Columbia Board of Elections, "Voting by Special Ballot," accessed May 5, 2023
↑ District of Columbia Board of Elections, "Voter Registration Application," accessed December 5, 2019
↑ District of Columbia Board of Elections, "FAQ’s for Incarcerated Voters & Returning Citizens," accessed May 5, 2023
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," April 6, 2023 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "ncsl" defined multiple times with different content
↑ The Justice Department notes, "Six States (Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) are exempt from the NVRA because, on and after August 1, 1994, they either had no voter-registration requirements or had election-day voter registration at polling places with respect to elections for federal office."
↑ The United States Department of Justice, "The National Voter Registration Act of 1993," accessed Aprl 4, 2023
↑ ERIC, "Home," accessed April 4, 2023
↑ ERIC, "Who We Are," accessed August 7, 2023
↑ Election Assistance Commission, "Election Audits Across the United States," accessed August 15, 2023
↑ Ballotpedia research conducted in June 2023, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.

[1] We use the term "absentee/mail-in voting" to describe systems in which requests or applications are required. We use the term "all-mail voting" to denote systems where the ballots themselves are sent automatically to all voters. We use the hyphenate term for absentee voting because some states use “mail voting” (or a similar alternative) to describe what has traditionally been called "absentee voting."

[2] D.C. Board of Elections, "Election Day Vote Centers," accessed May 5, 2023

[registration-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 District of Columbia Board of Elections, "Register/Update Voter Registration," accessed May 5, 2023

[list-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 D.C. Law Library, "Code of the District of Columbia § 1–1001.07. Voter," accessed May 5, 2023

[dcabsentee-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 DC Board of Elections, "Mail Ballot Request," accessed May 5, 2023

[quotedisclaimer-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[ncslvoterID-7] National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Identification Requirements|Voter ID Laws," March 9, 2023

[wapostID-8] The Washington Post, "Do I need an ID to vote? A look at the laws in all 50 states," October 27, 2014

[9] District of Columbia Board of Elections, "Voting by Special Ballot," accessed May 5, 2023

[10] District of Columbia Board of Elections, "Voter Registration Application," accessed December 5, 2019

[11] District of Columbia Board of Elections, "FAQ’s for Incarcerated Voters & Returning Citizens," accessed May 5, 2023

[ncsl-12] 12.0 ^12.1 National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," April 6, 2023 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "ncsl" defined multiple times with different content

[13] The Justice Department notes, "Six States (Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) are exempt from the NVRA because, on and after August 1, 1994, they either had no voter-registration requirements or had election-day voter registration at polling places with respect to elections for federal office."

[14] The United States Department of Justice, "The National Voter Registration Act of 1993," accessed Aprl 4, 2023

[15] ERIC, "Home," accessed April 4, 2023

[16] ERIC, "Who We Are," accessed August 7, 2023

[eac-17] Election Assistance Commission, "Election Audits Across the United States," accessed August 15, 2023

[research-18] Ballotpedia research conducted in June 2023, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.

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