HB2562, titled the District of Columbia One Vote One Choice Act, would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to bar the District of Columbia from using ranked choice voting in any D.C. election. The bill defines a D.C. election broadly to include elections for public office in the District, including federal offices, as well as ballot initiatives and referenda. It would add a new section to the federal election law framework and make conforming changes to the enforcement and table-of-contents provisions of the Help America Vote Act.
In practical terms, the bill would preempt the District from adopting or continuing ranked choice voting for local or federal contests held in the District. It would affect election administration in Washington, D.C., and could also reach any future ballot measures or referenda conducted there. Because the bill amends a federal statute, it would create a federal restriction on how D.C. conducts elections rather than leaving the issue to local discretion.
Impact
The bill would amend Title III of the Help America Vote Act by inserting a new section 305 that expressly prohibits the District of Columbia from using ranked choice voting. It also updates the Act’s enforcement section to include the new prohibition and makes clerical changes to the statute’s table of contents. If enacted, it would limit the District’s election-law options and override any local effort to implement ranked choice voting for D.C. offices, federal offices in the District, or ballot initiatives and referenda.
Sentiment
Based on the available record, the bill appears to have been introduced and referred to the House Committee on House Administration without recorded committee debate or votes. With no transcripts or roll-call history provided, there is no documented bipartisan support or opposition in the materials, but the bill’s framing suggests a policy preference for traditional single-choice voting over ranked choice voting in the District of Columbia.
Contention
The central point of contention is ranked choice voting itself: supporters of the bill would likely view the system as confusing or inappropriate for D.C. elections, while opponents would likely argue that the District should be free to choose its own election method. Another likely issue is federalism and local autonomy, since the bill would impose a federal rule on D.C. election administration and could be seen as limiting the District’s self-governance. The breadth of the definition, which covers ballot initiatives and referenda as well as candidate elections, may also draw scrutiny.