The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics wants to expand access to early voting sites, the agency’s director said Tuesday.
“Early voting was an unmitigated success,” board director Rokey Suleman said during a D.C. Council hearing. “We’re now getting demands for it in other wards.”
This fall was the first time the city allowed early voting. It was available two weeks before election day during the primary election and at one site before the general election. Early voting spread to four other sites across the city one week before Nov. 2.
Suleman said he would like to expand early voting centers to each of the city’s eight wards if money is available. It costs the city about $40,000 for one week with four sites open.
“It’s something the District should be proud of and we’d like to move forward with expanding it,” he said.
At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson has introduced a bill that would cut the early voting period from two weeks to one.
Suleman said he doesn’t believe that’s necessary, partly because there’s only one voting site open two weeks in advance.
About 25 percent of voters cast their ballots early in the primary and in the general election. Suleman said he believes, based on what’s happened in other jurisdictions, that as many as 50 percent of voters will choose to vote early as residents become more aware of the option.
