Ballots were sent out for the MDCDSA 2023 Local Convention on Tuesday, December 12th and remained open until 11:59pm Saturday, December 16th. The following results were certified by the Internal Elections Department.
Quick Facts
2047 ballots were sent, but 125 bounced.
1360 emails were opened (66.4% of total sent).
315 ballots were visited (23.2% of opened emails).
280 votes were cast (13.7% of total ballots sent).
The IED responded to 13 member requests about missing ballots or other voting issues. The IED provided a special ballot in 9 of those cases.
- Five cases involved members not receiving ballots due to issues with membership, including lapsed membership or the member being associated with another chapter in membership records. Four of these issues were resolved in time to provide a special ballot.
- One case involved a ballot caught in a spam filter. The original ballot was located and no special ballot was needed.
- Two cases involved issues with voting in OpaVote. One member had received an error message when trying to submit a ballot. The IED determined that the ballot had been received and processed. Another member reported their ballot had been closed prior to completing it and the member was not able to access the ballot again. The IED is unable to reopen ballots in those situations since all ballots are anonymized once submitted.
- One member did not receive a ballot because their email address was misspelled in membership records. The IED provided a special ballot, and disabled the ballot sent to the incorrect address.
- The other four cases involved members in good standing who reported not receiving a ballot. The IED provided them with special ballots after confirming their eligibility.
Metro DC Steering Committee Election
The MDC DSA Steering Committee consists of 3 officers positions and 8 at large positions. All candidates were required to be members of MDC DSA in good standing and to receive 5 nominations in order to be eligible to run. The 3 officer positions were all uncontested and will be elected by acclamation under our standing rules. There were 15 candidates for the remaining 8 at large seats. The results are as follows:
| Candidate | Count |
| Bakari W | 203 |
| Aparna R | 197 |
| Imara C | 197 |
| Eduarda S | 184 |
| Emily N | 181 |
| Carl R | 178 |
| Claire M | 175 |
| Hayden D | 175 |
| Alex M-T | 88 |
| Javien D | 76 |
| Diego J | 74 |
| Lyra M | 72 |
| Hunter Forte | 63 |
| Vinay Orekondy | 59 |
| DJ Large | 58 |
Winners are Bakari W, Aparna R, Imara C, Eduarda S, Emily N, Carl R, Claire M, and Hayden D.
Priority Campaign Resolutions
The membership also considered five priority campaign resolutions. A maximum of five campaigns can be designated as priority campaigns. Campaigns must receive two-thirds of votes in the affirmative—out of all of the votes cast on the question—in order to be designated a priority campaign. The results are as follows:
Question 2: Should the Labor Working Group be a priority campaign in 2024?
The number of voters is 280 and there were 255 valid votes and 25 empty votes.
| Yes | 237 |
| No | 18 |
Yes - 92.9% of valid votes
No - 7.1% of valid votes
The chapter votes to make the Labor Working Group a priority campaign in 2024.
Question 3: Should We Power DC be a priority campaign in 2024?
The number of voters is 280 and there were 242 valid votes and 38 empty votes.
| Yes | 201 |
| No | 41 |
Yes - 83.1% of valid votes
No - 16.9% of valid votes
The chapter votes to make We Power DC a priority campaign in 2024.
Question 4: Should Stomp Out Slumlords be a priority campaign in 2024?
The number of voters is 280 and there were 265 valid votes and 15 empty votes.
| Yes | 248 |
| No | 17 |
Yes - 93.6% of valid votes
No - 6.4% of valid votes
The chapter votes to make Stomp Out Slumlords a priority campaign in 2024.
Question 5: Should Electoral Organizing be a priority campaign in 2024?
The number of voters is 280 and there were 255 valid votes and 25 empty votes.
| Yes | 219 |
| No | 36 |
Yes - 85.9% of valid votes
No - 14.1% of valid votes
The chapter votes to make Electoral Organizing a priority campaign in 2024.
Question 6: Should the Abolition Working Group be a priority campaign in 2024?
The number of voters is 280 and there were 248 valid votes and 32 empty votes.
| Yes | 192 |
| No | 56 |
Yes - 77.4% of valid votes
No - 22.6% of valid votes
The chapter votes to make the Abolition Working Group a priority campaign in 2024.
This concludes the results for the MDCDSA 2023 Local Convention ballot. Thank you to all the candidates and all the members who authored resolutions, and to everyone who voted. A breakdown of the results will be sent out via OpaVote to all members who cast a vote.
In solidarity,
Ali T, Dave O, and Sam M