OPINION:
Washingtonians shouldn’t have to choose between blind trust and unsupported allegations of fraud. We deserve verification.
The D.C. Board of Elections (DCBOE) is entrusted with maintaining accurate voter rolls. The Department of Justice (DOJ) sought information it says it needs to compare those rolls against federal databases to ensure accuracy.
A federal judge has now said the DOJ cannot compel the complete list under the statute it invoked and specifically pointed the DOJ toward Congress if it believes that additional authority is necessary. Congress should take the judge up on the invitation.
In 2023, Judicial Watch challenged the DCBOE over its voter-list maintenance. The episode implicated more than 176,000 voter-registration records, including 65,544 outdated registrations that were removed, nearly 38,000 more slated for removal and another 73,522 designated inactive.
Washington residents have seen serious data-integrity failures elsewhere in local government, from the graduation-data controversy that prompted an independent D.C. Public Schools audit, to the Department of Forensic Sciences losing its accreditation to more recent investigations into allegations of manipulated Metropolitan Police Department crime statistics.
Those instances don’t prove misconduct at the DCBOE. But they demonstrate why independent verification — not institutional assurances alone — is essential to public confidence.
Trust isn’t something government agencies or the elected officials charged with overseeing them should demand from Washingtonians. Trust is something the government earns through competent stewardship, transparency, and accountability.
The judge pointed the DOJ toward Congress, which already possesses substantial constitutional and investigative authority over Washington.
Congress should examine not only the DCBOE’s voter-list maintenance procedures, but also whether Washington’s existing local-government oversight structure provides sufficient transparency, accountability and competency.
The lesson is good governance.
Home rule delegated substantial governing authority to Washington. It did not eliminate accountability or Congress’ constitutional responsibility for America’s capital.
Washingtonians should not be asked to blindly trust the government administering their elections.
Trust should not be the government’s demand. Verification should be the government’s standard.
LORI FURSTENBERG
Founder, The TRIFECTA: A Governance Framework for Washington, D.C.
Washington
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