AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Washington, DC, city council special election

WASHINGTON AP Voters in southeast Washington D C will fill a vacant city council seat Tuesday in a special voting to replace former Councilmember Trayon White who was expelled from office in February following his arrest in a federal corruption probe Among the candidates to replace White on the council is White himself The electoral contest will again give residents of the district s th Ward representation on the council as the city faces a billion budget shortfall stemming from the Trump administration s massive cuts to the federal workforce a separate billion-dollar budget fight with congressional Republicans and a doable clash between the Democratic mayor and the council over a proposed billion stadium deal with the Washington Commanders football gang Besides White the other candidates in the running are Salim Adofo Mike Austin and Sheila Bunn Adofo is chair of a local Advisory Neighborhood Commission or ANC Austin is an attorney and a former ANC chair Bunn was a top aide to former mayor and longtime Councilmember Vincent Gray as well as to the district s non-voting delegate to Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton All four candidates are Democrats There are no Republicans on the ballot White refused to cooperate with an internal council inquiry and has sought to stoke suspicion of the FBI which arrested him last August Despite his ongoing legal troubles White was reelected in with of the vote over his Republican opponent Adofo challenged White in the primary that year but placed second with of the vote behind White s Austin challenged White in the primary but White prevailed with to Austin s Ward like the city itself is heavily Democratic Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris carried the ward with of the vote in the presidential race against Republican Donald Trump The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap If a race has not been called the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments such as candidate concessions or declarations of win In doing so the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why In District of Columbia elections recounts are automatic in city council races if the margin is less than of the total vote The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome Here s a look at what to expect on Tuesday Special poll day Washington s city council special referendum will be held Tuesday Polls close at p m ET What s on the ballot The AP will provide vote results and declare a winner in the Ward city council seat Who gets to vote Any voter registered in Ward may participate in the special ballot What do turnout and advance vote look like As of June there were nearly registered voters in Ward Of those were Democrats were Republicans and about were not registered with any party The remainder were registered with minor parties Turnout for special elections in the district tends to be significantly lower than that of regularly scheduled general elections An April special balloting for a Ward city council seat had turnout at of registered voters By comparison turnout for the same Ward seat was of registered voters for the general electoral contest and in A June special polling for a Ward city council seat also saw a steep drop-off in voter turnout compared with regularly scheduled elections Turnout in that contest was of registered voters compared with in the general voting and in the presidential electoral contest Ballots are mailed to all registered voters in Ward so a relatively large share of voters typically do not vote at the polls on Electoral process Day In higher-profile elections like the mayoral race and the presidential race more than of voters cast their ballots before Polling Day As of Wednesday a total of Ward ballots had already been cast That number may increase considerably with early in-person voting beginning on Friday How long does vote-counting usually take In the presidential electoral process the AP first disclosed Ward results at p m ET or more than two hours after polls closed That initial description included about of the total vote The last update of the night was later that hour at p m ET with about of the total votes counted Results for the Ward city council race that year were first released at p m ET The last update of the night was at p m ET with about of total votes counted Source