As the Election Day 2022 grows closer, more options are becoming available for voters across the D.C. region who are hoping to cast their ballot early.
Ballot drop boxes opened in the District on Friday, and will be available until 8 p.m. on Election Day — Tuesday, Nov. 8.
“The drop boxes are open for business,” said Nick Jacobs, a spokesman with the D.C. Board of Elections. “We opened 55 boxes all across the city.”
Each of the District’s eight wards has at least five drop boxes, which voters can use to submit a completed ballot.
“Some are located near voting centers,” Jacobs said. “Others are placed in high-traffic areas such as libraries and rec centers.”
It comes after election officials mailed a ballot to every registered voter in the city earlier this month.
Voters have a lot to consider, with races for mayor, members of the D.C. Council and more.
“We’ve tried to create opportunities for voters to cast their ballot in a way that’s more convenient for them,” Jacobs said.
Voters in the District will also get their say on Initiative 82, known as the Increase Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees Measure, which would incrementally up the sub-minimum wage for the District’s tipped workers from its current rate — $5.35 per hour, as of this July — until it matches the base wage for non-tipped workers by 2027, with tips on top.
Initiative 82 seeks to phase out the so-called tip credit, which lets employers count a portion of a worker’s tips earned every hour toward D.C.’s minimum wage of $16.10. In other words, if your tip puts a worker’s pay rate at or above the minimum wage, their employer isn’t obligated to pay them anything further.
With ballot drop boxes now open in D.C., voters all across the region are casting ballots using drop boxes or through regular mail.
Maryland recently started mailing ballots to its voters who requested them, and the state opened nearly 300 drop boxes earlier this week. Voting in Virginia started even earlier, with in-person and mail voting getting underway three weeks ago.
In-person early voting centers won’t open in D.C. and Maryland until later this month.
WTOP’s Alejandro Alvarez contributed to this report.
