The Washington, D.C. GOP primary took place last Saturday, and since the District is only allotted 19 delegates, you probably didn’t hear much about this event. Lucky you — it was a mess. Let’s break it down by the numbers:
27,228 registered Republicans in D.C.
1 polling place
5 voting machines for voting for president
No early voting
No absentee ballots allowed (Except for people with disabilities or those serving in the military overseas)
3.25 hours I spent to cast my ballots
And I do mean ballots, plural: D.C. lets you vote once for president, and then for up to 32 delegates. All of the D.C. delegates are required to vote proportionally to the popular vote in the first round at the convention (they split between the candidates according to our popular vote). For all of the later rounds, the delegates can vote for whomever they choose. Some of the delegates on the ballot are committed to a specific candidate. Other delegates were committed only to “#NeverTrump.”
If you’re confused, well, so were the D.C. voters. Fortunately, campaign volunteers and even some delegates themselves were on hand to answer questions. (The D.C. primary is a convention, not an election, so campaigning at the polling place is allowed. And it is loud. And relentless.)
So how did this happen?
The Republican National Committee requires that all convention delegates be chosen at least 45 days in advance. This is not a secret rule, nor is it a recent one. This rule was established by the RNC in 2014, and was widely reported on at the time.
Multiple polling place volunteers told me that the decision about primary day was made without consulting a single D.C. GOP official. It is more than a little suspicious that the D.C. Board of Elections decided that Election Day this year would be June 14, 2016 — just inside that 45-day window. “Sure, you can have your election, but on a day where the results will be rendered useless,” is not a great message to send to voters.
The D.C. GOP refused to be disenfranchised, but they were still left to put a primary together on their own, on short notice. They chose the Loews Madison hotel — not a school or other community building — because hotels don’t close for snow. In D.C. in March, snow is a real threat. So, the GOP primary was held in a hotel…which party officials estimated cost between $60,000 and $80,000. Going outside of the established BOE “primary day” carries a hefty price tag.
The long voting line, stretching down several city blocks, was remarkably diverse — and millennials were well represented. Given that we are rarely required to be patient (we get our news on demand, our entertainment streamed instantly, our Ubers at the touch of a button) it was a pleasant surprise to see many young voters like myself sticking it out in that slow line.
This is the line for the @DCGOP primary at 12:40 p.m. Two city blocks inside the convention. pic.twitter.com/BdHVkFV84y
— Chandler Epp (@chandlerepp) March 12, 2016
It took me over three hours, from the time I got in line, until the time I cast my ballots. I’m one of the lucky ones, who has three hours to spare to vote in a primary. Plenty of other voters don’t have that “luxury” — and that’s exactly the problem. Voting is a right, not a luxury.
One voter told me, “As a member of the United States military, I am distressed to think that my city has forgotten about its voters.”
An elderly gentleman was more optimistic: “As a lifelong Washingtonian for more than 70 years, I’ve never been so heartened by anything as seeing this turnout,” he said.
Part of being a Republican in our nation’s capital is sometimes feeling like you’re the only Republican in our nation’s capital — especially if you come here for college, as thousands of people do.
This is a perfect example of how Washington works: Bureaucrats purposefully and needlessly make it difficult for Republicans to accomplish anything, the Republicans in power scramble to cobble together a solution, and the GOP voters get stuck with a sub-optimal outcome. We deserve a more aggressive GOP — and many of us voted for one.
