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KLMNO POSTLOCAL Talk to us. Talk to newsmakers. Talk to each other. Join the conversation at
postlocal.com No horsing around MIKE DEBONIS
Watch for the lawyers in high-stakes D.C. race
C
ome Sept. 15, the District could be feeling downright Floridian, especially on the second floor of One Judiciary Square, home of the Board of Elections and Ethics. The battle between Adrian M. Fenty and Vincent C. Gray is shaping up to be something the District of Columbia hasn’t faced in 36 years of limited home rule: a very, very important election that could be very, very close. An independent poll released last week by
NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Restoration technician Steve Servis applies a coat of wax to a statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square, near the White House, on Thursday. The statue, which was erected in 1853, was the first in the United States to depict a person on horseback.
We want your pictures! Got photos of a summer sunset over the Potomac? How about your favorite bag? Send in all those, and more, to our user photo galleries at
washingtonpost.com/your-photos.
Q&A
Post staff writer Lavanya Ramanathan took a reader’s question about weekend entertainment for an unaccompanied male in D.C. during a live online chat yesterday at
PostLocal.com.
✔ Pay the man, kids
You voted 58% SERGIO HERRERA
Neighborhood residents take in the sights at the 2008 Columbia Heights Day festival.
A solo Saturday
Q: “My BF is going to be occupied with his parents all weekend, so I’m basically doing stuff solo this whole weekend. Any things I should check out currently? Male, early 30s, like it all food-wise. “I don’t get to enough cultural events that I should, so that would be something of poten- tial interest. I’ll be in the Dupont area but have no problem traversing the city — to take advantage of a gorgeous weekend. Thanks.”
A: “Columbia Heights Day is going to be awe- some. I’ll give you a preview: A ‘King and Queen of Columbia Heights’ pageant (scenester kids, you know you want to win this); a vegan cup- cake-eating con- test; area bars, in- cluding Wonder- land and Room 11, will be open and having spe- cials; and Bloom- bars on 11th will be hosting a full day of activities that starts with 9 a.m. belly dancing, continues with a midday open mike, and ends with movie screenings at 2:30 a.m. till the sun comes up.”
On Columbia Heights Day’s Going Out Guide entry, reader corones wrote: “Animals and food and bands! I can’t wait!”
Learn more about Columbia Heights Day — it’s Saturday — and get more weekend-fun recommendations at
goingoutguide.com.
Read more about the Times rumor mill and share your thoughts at
washingtonpost.com/storylab.
washingtonpost.com/user-polls. “
POSTLOCAL.com Today on Weather talk
Is it fall yet? Gab about D.C. area weather with our expert weather bloggers.
washingtonpost.com/ capitalweathergang
THE DAILY QUIZ
According to the Weekend section, where in Virginia can you watch polo at twilight?
EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go to
washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.
POINTS EVENTS
The Scavenger Hunt is Tomorrow! PostPoints and Signature Theatre will co-sponsor an intriguing hunt for Cold War espionage sites in DC, in celebration of the theatre’s season opener, the legendary rock musical, Chess. The hunt is tomorrow (Saturday, August 28) from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. To register, email
checkmate@signature-theatre.org with your contact information. Be sure to mention PostPoints! PostPoints members also qualify for a 35% discount on tickets to Chess, with double points for attendance. See
signature-theatre.org for play reviews.
Where to eat? New restaurants, old favorites, reader reviews and Tom Sietsema.
washingtonpost.com/restaurants
Live chats Local sports, “Real Housewives,” politics and more, starting at 9:30.
washingtonpost.com/discussions
POINTS & REWARDS
Cravens Nursery Pansies, pottery and mulch are on sale now. See
cravensnursery.com.
Havertys Furniture
Save money on all your favorite pieces at the Labor Day Sale! Shop
havertys.com.
Sheehy Auto Stores
Don’t miss the Sheehy video about their markdown price deals, at
sheehy.com.
washingtonpost.com/postpoints
Not a PostPoints member yet? Log onto
washingtonpost.com/postpoints for more information about this exciting free program.
Tell us What do you think of this page and our local coverage? E-mail us at
metro@washpost.com.
A complete list of PostPoints Spots can be found at
washingtonpost.com/postpoints.
of voters in a non-scientific user poll at
PostLocal.com said the responsibility for making sure college students are not bullied by credit card companies lies with the students themselves, as of 4 p.m. yesterday; parents, credit card companies and the government trailed way behind.
Don’t agree? Weigh in on this, participate in more user polls and share your thoughts at
Hot topic: Commuting
Readers responded to a story noting that Metro no longer plans to allow riders to exit with a negative balance on their electronic fare cards. (A date for the change has not been set, but it is planned for fall.)
Sore about SmarTrip cards?
NW_Washington: “There should never have been any ability to exit the system with a negative balance. People are just going to have to pay attention to their SmarTrip balance to ensure that they have at least one fare on it.”
clickums: “I’ve been caught several times where all I needed was a nickel, dime, or a dollar to get out and all I had was plastic. In all those instances the negative . . . value allowed me to exit.”
“Both rumor-publishing and journalism have their place, but there needs to be a wall between them
somehow.” — reader eandab2003, responding to an item on the Story Lab blog that detailed how a blogger’s rumor about the impending demise of the Washington Times started a media firestorm; it now appears the newspaper’s founder may be negotiating to repurchase it.
Eleiana: “I wouldn’t have a problem with the policy . . . IF the exit fare machines weren’t cash-only. WHO carries cash? Certainly not me or most of my colleagues.”
BabuiBoomerang: “Funny to see how our society has become. You can’t pay your mortgage; it’s the lender’s fault. You overdraft your account; it’s the bank’s fault. You are obese; it’s McDonald’s fault. Now you don’t have sufficient fund on your SmarTrip card; it’s Metro’s fault.”
rosesta: “Once again, loyal riders get screwed. Glad I work from home these days.”
jmh27: “I just moved here from N.Y.C., and was blown away the first time I rode the Metro. The system D.C. decided to implement has made it extremely inconvenient for commuters on many levels. N.Y.C., you swipe ONCE. Fixed rate, you get to ride the subway network anywhere. Simple. Done.”
geneticcounselor2: “Wow, just when I think I couldn’t possibly hate Metro any more than I already do.”
Take part in this and many more local discussions every day at
PostLocal.com.
Clarus Research Group showed the mayoral race to be a statistical tie, with Gray holding a lead within the survey’s margin of error. No need to detail the stakes, of course. “In the back of everyone’s mind, everyone’s concerned about the Florida situation,” said Dorothy Brizill, civic activist and longtime election watchdog. There may not be any hanging chads or Brooks Brothers riots here. But there is the possibility that, more than a week after primary day, we still won’t know whether Gray or Fenty won. And the result may very well be in the hands of the two-member election board. By federal law, residents who believe they should be able to cast a vote must be allowed to. And if they aren’t on the official rolls, they vote using what D.C. calls a “special ballot.” It’s up to the election board to decide whether to accept each special ballot. Here’s the twist: Under the District’s new same-day registration requirement, all ballots cast are special ballots — so there will almost certainly be more special ballots cast in this primary than ever before. In 2006, for instance, of about 106,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary, only 2,912 were special ballots. This time around, election officials estimate, based on experiences in other jurisdictions, that turnout could be driven up by 7 percent or more. Combine that with the expectation of a higher turnout, and the number of special ballots could approach 10,000. The race doesn’t have to be razor-close for those ballots to matter, just plain-old close. And if that happens, the lawyers will be going to the mattresses. “We could have a real situation here,” said Bill O’Field, a former D.C. election official who now works as a consultant. “The campaigns could be poring over those special ballots for days.” District residents were offered a preview of
what the post-primary scene could look like on Wednesday morning, as the election board considered a Fenty proposal to open the primaries to independent voters: A small room packed with almost as many cameras as lawyers, with activists and the plain-old curious spilling into the hallways. The board has set aside three days for review of special ballots, starting the Tuesday after primary day. Both the Fenty and Gray camps have engaged top-notch election lawyers. In the Fenty corner is Marc E. Elias, a Perkins Coie partner who has served top Democratic , including the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign. Fenty’s campaign chairman, Bill Lightfoot, is a formidable trial lawyer, and Matthew Cutts, a Patton Boggs partner, is helping to assemble a corps of volunteer lawyers to fan out to polling places. To help fend off the Fenty independent-voting
initiative, Gray hired Scott E. Thomas of Dickstein Shapiro, a former 20-year member of the Federal Election Commission. Gray’s field army of lawyers is being assembled by Lloyd J. Jordan, a former director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs who is now a partner at Akerman Senterfitt. The Fenty campaign may have a head start on preparing for a ballot-review showdown: On Monday, Elias sent a four-page letter to election officials, requesting a laundry list of public documents on the election, including lists of absentee and early voters, poll books, and more. The ballot challenges, however, would be the last round in this bare-knuckle fight. Both camps are flinging accusations and lightly founded expectations of voter intimidation and shady electioneering. Add to that the well-publicized fact that the city will be deploying not only same-day registration but also new voting machines and early-voting opportunities. The “sheer potential for mischief and chaos” is considerable, Brizill said, adding, “I just hope that people act like adults.”
debonism@washpost.com
Read DeBonis’s blog, contact Mike directly and share your thoughts on area politics and government at
washingtonpost.com/debonis.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
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