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The primary vote on Jan. 13 provides Democratic presidential candidates four months to communicate their views to the District’s populous, but few candidates have yet scheduled appearances or opportunities for D.C. voters to get to know them.

One of the major issues listed in every Democratic presidential candidates’ campaign is voting rights for the District. However, only three of the 10 most prominent candidates have recently visited the District or have scheduled events to meet and speak with D.C. residents.

That’s likely to change, though, as the District’s first-in-the-nation Democratic primary gets closer. Petitions for candidates to gain ballot access will become available on Sept 12 in the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics Office. D.C. law requires each of the Democratic presidential candidates to collect 1,000 signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot, and petitions must be filed by Nov. 14 to run in the January primary.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean’s campaign has been the most visible in the District to date, holding many small gatherings throughout the city to sign up volunteers. Dean is scheduled to throw a fundraiser at Bohemian Caverns along the U Street corridor on Sept. 8, with attendees paying from $25 for students to $250 for "hosts" – a category that permits the donors to meet Dean. Dean’s other appearances scheduled for the D.C. area include a big ticket fundraiser – $1,000 for patrons and $500 for sponsors – and a rally at the University of Maryland, neither inside the District.

Dean has been the most visible candidate in the District. His campaign has been at various small events around the city. Democrats supporting Dean from Ward 6 will be handing out flyers and signing people up for the Dean campaign on the weekends.

"The most active candidate in Ward 6, that I know about, is Dean," said Jan Eichhorn, Ward 6 Democratic chairman. Eichhorn said Democrats from her ward who support Dean are planning to distribute flyers and sign up volunteers on weekends.

D.C. for Dean, the local campaign organization, also is organizing what they call "Capital Region House Call," a series of 12 house parties that Dean is expected to conference call to speak with residents.

"He [Dean] actually listens to people, talks to them, he just doesn’t say what he wants to say," D.C. for Dean organizer Pat Johnson said.

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is scheduled to make a campaign appearance in the District Sept. 18 during a rally to encourage involvement in local D.C. issues. Topics of discussion at the rally, sponsored by Ralph Nader’s nonprofit Democracy Rising organization, include restoration of D.C. General Hospital, increased funding for schools and libraries, and D.C. statehood.

"Dennis Kucinich is very much for the right of residents in D.C. to vote," said David Kelley, the Kucinich campaign’s issues director. "All Americans’ votes should count. It’s antithetical to democracy, that’s what it is."

The rally, part of a nationwide tour by Nader’s organization to promote democratic participation, will be held at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1518 M. St. NW and will also feature a performance by singer Patti Smith. General admission tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The rally will be the first at which Nader, the Green Party’s presidential candidate in 2000, will share the stage with Kucinich, who has been actively courting Green Party members’ support.

"Ralph and Dennis have for a long time worked on similar issues. They have common interests on how they see the country," said Matthew Zawisky, national organizer for Democracy Rising.

D.C. Democratic Party Chairman A. Scott Bolden noted that all of the presidential candidates have plans to raise money with events in the nation’s capital, which is not unusual for presidential campaigns. But he said he believes most of the candidates "are taking a wait-and-see approach" toward campaigning in the District at this early stage.

All of the prominent Democratic candidates for president are being invited to attend the local Democrats’ annual fund-raising Kennedy-King Dinner on Nov. 1, and Bolden said he expects this year’s dinner to be well attended.

"We are confident that we’re going to get three or four credible presidential candidates here [at the dinner]," Bolden said.

All the candidates are scheduled to visit the District at some point before the Jan. 13 primary, primarily to recruit union support and to fundraise. Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt recently addressed the Alliance for Retired Americans at the Hilton Washington Hotel, and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Kucinich are scheduled to address the Service Employees International Union at the SEIU Political Action Conference on Sept. 8 at the Washington Hilton.

The Rev. Al Sharpton of New York plans several trips to the District in September, including a Sept. 9 visit to meet with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement’s Third Annual National "Trabajando" Leadership Conference and 30th Anniversary Celebration. The events are open to members of the respective organizations.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000, is scheduled to attend a $1,000-per-plate dessert reception on Sept. 8 at the D.C. home of Gerard and Lisa Leval. Florida Sen. Bob Graham and Sen. John Edwards have no campaign events planned in the District to date.

Carol Moseley Braun, former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and a former U.S. senator from Illinios, was the only presidential candidate who showed up to interact with D.C. residents Aug 23 at the Ward 8 Democrats’ annual picnic. She has no plans to return to D.C. to campaign in the next month.

Michael Mannino from the Moseley Braun campaign said, "She [Moseley Braun] supports D.C. voting rights, but has not put out a specific plan," said Michael Mannino, a spokesman for Moseley Braun’s campaign. "We would need to do that through some type of national referendum."