The Washington Post‘s Editorial Board is taking local officials in DC to task for refusing to implement a voter initiative to use ranked-choice voting in the District. Voters in the District overwhelmingly approved an initiative that adopts ranked-choice voting and allows independent voters to participate in primary elections. DC officials are apparently refusing to fund the reforms.

From to the editorial:

But many of D.C.’s elected officials — who might face some real competition under this new system — are stalling the reforms.

That begins with Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who opposed the initiative and criticized ranked-choice voting ahead of last year’s election as “a very complicated election system.” Even though a large majority of voters — including most members of her own party — disagreed, she refused to include any funding in her proposed 2026 budget for the reforms, which are supposed to be in place for next year’s primary elections.

Some D.C. Council members are resisting, too. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At Large), a critic of ranked-choice voting who chairs the committee overseeing D.C.’s elections, also refused to dedicate money for the changes, even though city officials estimate the initiative will require $1.6 million to train election officials and fund a public education campaign. Instead, Bonds called on the Board of Elections to develop an “implementation plan” without a clear timeline. In a statement, she said voter initiatives are “not fully implemented immediately without further debate or changes” and noted that I-83 is “still in active litigation.”

Indeed, the D.C. Democratic Party is challenging the initiative in court, though its arguments are unpersuasive. That includes, for example, the party’s contention that the measure violates a requirement that the city conduct partisan primaries — even though those primaries would still take place under I-83. The party also claims the system would threaten religious freedom because churches that host polling locations might be closed for longer if ranked-choice voting slows down the process.