A write-in candidate who was denied a seat on the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission in November’s election filed a lawsuit against the D.C. Board of Elections and the governing body last month seeking to stymie this month’s special election.
Two weeks after the D.C. Court of Appeals struck down write-in candidate Dennis Sobin’s petition to gain a seat on ANC 2A because unregistered nominees received more votes, Sobin filed a lawsuit claiming that the D.C. Board of Elections and the governing body violated the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. Sobin aims to delay the ANC’s special election after two new candidates launched bids to fill the body’s vacancies, arguing that people with disabilities could struggle to secure the 25 signatures every candidate must collect to run, according to the suit.
Candidates Keaton Dicapo and Sean Youngstone launched bids Jan. 13 for seats 2A01, representing the area encompassing Mitchell and Thurston halls, and 2A09, the seat Sobin lost, representing Amsterdam, Madison, Fulbright and JBKO halls and GW Hospital, respectively.
The D.C. Board of Elections declined to comment on how, if at all, the lawsuit would impact ANC 2A’s special election.
The D.C. Board of Elections said in December that Sobin did not earn the seat because unregistered nominees received more votes. Sobin disagreed with the decision and filed a case with the D.C. Court of Appeals seeking to reverse the decision, which the court rejected in December.
Sobin said in an interview that he felt like the judge “rubber stamped” the D.C. Board of Elections case without considering it.
“Counting noncandidates and possibly nonexistent people is really outrageous,” Sobin said of the D.C. Court of Appeals ruling.
Sobin, 81, states in the recent filing that the special election process violates ADA guidelines because there are “no provisions” to allow elderly or disabled individuals to run. The suit states there’s few options for candidates with limited mobility to run as write-ins or participate in absentee voting since the D.C. Board of Elections requires candidates to collect at least 25 signatures between Jan. 13 and Feb. 3 to run in the election.
“Plaintiff is 81 years old and handicapped as a recovering stroke patient who is often shut in,” states Sobin’s filing, which was obtained by The Hatchet.
Write-in candidates in the general election do not have collect the 25 signatures and are only required to submit a Declaration of Candidacy form up to seven days after voting, according to the D.C. Board of Elections.
The D.C. Board of Elections does not outline a write-in process for special elections, and it is unclear if there’s a protocol for candidates to gather signatures electronically or via proxy. D.C. Code passed an amendment in 2022 allowing for the electronic circulation of petition sheets for ANC candidates running in single-member districts that include the Central Detention Facility and Correctional Treatment Facility.
“Since the election requires signature gathering for petitions to run (there is no provision for a candidate to run as a write which candidate must do because of his limited mobility) and no absentee voting, he is excluded from the election as both a candidate and a voter,” the filing states.
The suit states that Sobin is seeking to stop the election pending a decision on his complaint because there is “no easy recourse” to void the special election after it occurs.
“That they’ll stop it and have a legal election,” Sobin said. “That’s what it is so we don’t keep acting like a banana republic here in D.C.”
Sobin initially launched a write-in bid for single-member district 2A09 in the November election and received backlash from commissioner-elects on the body after his presumed win because of his status as a registered sex offender. A Florida jury in 2005 convicted Sobin on seven felony counts involving child pornography and racketeering after he faced arrest in February 1991 for taking nude video footage of two children at a nudist campground.
“The conviction that put me in that situation is something I fought against. I didn’t plead guilty. I fought the facts,” Sobin said.
The D.C. Court of Appeals’ December ruling rendered ANC 2A unable to conduct business and make formal recommendations to the D.C. government because less than 50 percent of the seats are filled. The D.C. Board of Elections certified vacancies in single-member districts 2A01, 2A05, 2A06, 2A07 and 2A09 on Jan. 10.
“They decided on a replacement election that was even less fair than the original election where they’re not even going to let a lot of people vote,” Sobin said.
Sobin has not filed Declaration of Candidacy form and, as of Jan. 30, Dicapo and Youngstone are running unopposed, according to the D.C. Board of Elections. The D.C. Board of Elections will publish candidates’ petitions for “public inspection” between Feb. 6 and Feb. 12, at which point the board will certify a list of candidates who qualify for appointment to the ANC.
Sobin said he is still deciding whether to run for the seat, but he said he encourages more candidates to run because “the more people that run, the better.”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Sobin said. “But I have no opportunity to run right now since my choice, because of limited mobility, would be write-in. I certainly want to vote in it regardless of whether I run or not. I want to vote by absentee ballot. That would be much better for me.”
If Sobin decides not to run against Youngstone for single-member district 2A09, the Board of Elections will certify Youngstone, the only qualified candidate, and the seat will be deemed filled.
If Sobin decides to face off against Youngstone, the ANC gives notice at a public meeting that an open vote will take place at a subsequent meeting, according to D.C. Board of Elections.
2A08 Commissioner Jim Malec said if two candidates file for candidacy in the same single-member district, he is unsure how the body would hold the special election because ANC 2A is unable to officially operate given less than half of its seats are currently filled.
Malec said he’s contacted D.C. Councilmember at-large Robert White’s office about the issue, requesting a change to District law to account for situations like ANC 2A is currently facing because the D.C. Council has the power to change election law.
Malec said the D.C. Council has not shared how the ANC would hold election proceedings should more than one candidate file.
“I think that there needs to be an emergency fix to the law to clarify or to allow the commission to be able to hold an election in such a case,” Malec said.