Budget Voting: Turnout is usually pretty low in special elections to fill vacant D.C. Council seats. But this April's election could set new records for fewest ballots cast even so—the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics says it can't afford to open all 143 precincts in the city. Facing a $250,000 shortfall, the board is [...]

Apology Tour: Before Tuesday's election, it was Adrian Fenty trying to convince voters that he was sorry and he'd change. After Tuesday, someone's still doing that sort of thing, only now, it's the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, which has taken to Twitter to apologize for how long it took to count votes. The [...]

You Weren't Invited to Michelle Rhee's Wedding: "Glamorous" invitations have been going out by mail lately to the Sacramento social event of the year—the Labor Day weekend wedding of DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. A big suburban real estate developer/Johnson supporter, Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, will host the reception. (Which may prove Rhee's [...]

The start of this week was so dour
As many were left without power
Repairs are a farce
And Pepco's an arse
That "storm" was naught more than a shower
The primary has people stressed
So BOEE ran a test
Unless folks all lied
The party divide:
What ice cream, to you, tastes the best
Those City Desk guys I adore
Are giving each day its [...]

The District's Board of Elections and Ethics (BOEE) may be in trouble. Since the resignation of the board's chairman, Errol Arthur, it may not be able to do its job as elections approach. The board of three has been operating with just two members since 2009. Mayor Adrian Fenty just announced [...]

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

New DYRS chief and fire investigators
D.C. unemployment drops—a little
Some people shouldn't own pets

Good morning sweet readers! LL is on high alert today; his mother-in-law is coming to [...]

Tim Craig kinda buried the lede in his D.C. Wire report on the fresh effort to bring same-sex marriage to the ballot.
Yes, Bishop Harry Jackson and the usual suspects filed new papers to day to hold a vote on making "only marriage between a man and a woman...valid and recognized in the District of Columbia."
But [...]

The Board of Elections and Ethics has ruled that a referendum on recognizing gay marriages is not allowed.
Reads the order [PDF], signed by both board chair Errol Arthur and member Charles Lowery Jr.:
[I]t is clear that the Referendum’s Proposers would, in contravention of the [Human Rights Act], strip same-sex couples of the rights and responsibilities [...]

Another update from Kenneth McGhie, general counsel for the Board of Elections and Ethics: "Still think it's going to be today," he says.
LL and the rest of the city are awaiting the board's decision whether to allow a referendum on recognizing other jurisdictions' same-sex marriages in the District.
The holdup? "Still debating some language," he says.
UPDATE, [...]

LL just got off the phone with Kenneth McGhie, general counsel for the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.
Those of you expecting a late-Friday announcement on whether or not a referendum will be allowed on the District law recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages: Don't hold your breath.
"Doesn't look like it's going to be today," McGhie says.

Rokey W. Suleman II will be the new executive director of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, the board announced today. He's coming to the District after running elections in Fairfax County.
LL was on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU-FM during election season last fall when Suleman called in to talk about Fairfax's early [...]

Then you might consider applying to serve as executive director of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.
The agency has been in the news in a bad way in recent months, for botching vote counts on the night of the District primary in September, then by taking forever to get any results out after the [...]