Voting rights in the District of Columbia differ from those of United States citizens in other parts of the country. In particular, citizens of the District of Columbia (i.e., the city of Washington, D.C.) have only limited representation in the United States Congress. Formerly, District residents had no participation in the federal government at all, but they have participated in presidential elections since passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961 (in practice, since the election of 1964). Citizens of Washington are represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting delegate who may vote in committee and participate in debate but cannot vote on the House floor. D.C. does not have any representation whatsoever in the United States Senate (see Shadow congressperson). ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate Dick Cheney, R, since January 20, 2001 Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R, since January 6, 1999 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups (as of January 4, 2005 elections) Democratic Party Republican Party... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... Amendment XXIII was the twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution which permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors for President and Vice President. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... A Delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U.S. territory or from the District of Columbia. ... Seal of the U.S. Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the other being the House of Representatives. ... The offices of shadow representative and shadow senator are elective offices in the District of Columbia. ...

A "DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006" attempted to address this issue by giving D.C. a voting member in the House, but not in the Senate; however, the bill failed. Its sponsors have reintroduced the bill in January of 2007. There are many arguments for and against this legislation giving the District of Columbia a Vote in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia has never had voting representation in the United States Congress, but efforts are currently under way to enact a statute that would give the District one vote in the House of Representatives, though not in the Senate. ... The District of Columbia has never had voting representation in the United States Congress, but efforts are currently under way to enact a statute that would give the District one vote in the House of Representatives, though not in the Senate. ... The District of Columbia has never had voting representation in the United States Congress, but efforts are currently under way to enact a statute that would give the District one vote in the House of Representatives, though not in the Senate. ...

A separate yet related controversy regards the lack of an intrinsic right for D.C. residents to govern their local affairs. For more on this, see District of Columbia home rule. District of Columbia home rule is a term encompassing the controversy regarding the lack of an intrinsic right for citizens of the District of Columbia (i. ...

Principles and concepts

Democratic representation calls for universal suffrage and representation for all members of the community in good standing, unless an overwhelming and compelling governmental necessity precludes it, perhaps such as in cases where non-citizens, felons, children, etc. are excluded. The burden is on the government to demonstrate such a compelling reason for exclusion from equal voting and representation. Prior constitutional exclusions from voting and representation, such as those based on race, gender, and age (18- to 20-year-olds) have been largely discredited in the US. Current exclusions from full voting rights include some felons, non-citizens, children, and residents of the US capital.

Political and racial complications

African Americans make up a very high percentage (60%) of the D.C. population, compared to the national average, and critics charge that opposition to D.C. voting rights is largely based on racism. Whether or not that is true, it is clear that the granting of voting rights would result in a clear benefit to Democrats and a corresponding disadvantage to Republicans; for example, 89% of D.C. voters supported the Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, a higher percentage than any state mustered for either candidate. Any voting representatives sent to Congress by a future D.C. with voting rights could similarly be expected to be Democrats. African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Manifestations Slavery · Racial profiling Hate speech · Hate crime Lynching · Gay bashing Genocide · Holocaust Ethnocide · Ethnic cleansing Pogrom · Race war Religious persecution Movements Discriminatory Aryanism · Neo-Nazism White/Black supremacy Hate groups · Kahanism Anti-discriminatory Abolitionism Womens/Universal suffrage Civil rights · Gay rights Childrens rights · Youth rights Groups NAACP... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... This article describes the electoral results for the District of Columbia in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. ...

The words "Taxation Without Representation" were added to the bottom of the Washington, D.C. license plate to protest the District's lack of representation in Congress.

File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

"Taxation without representation"

While the District's official motto is Justitia omnibus ("Justice to All"), the words "Taxation Without Representation", echoing the Revolutionary slogan, "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny!", were added to D.C. license plates in 2000 (although alternative plates featuring the D.C. website URL are available on request), and there was briefly a movement to add the words "No Taxation Without Representation" to the D.C. flag. Advocates who have supported these changes have said that they are intended as a protest and to raise awareness in the rest of the country. These measures in particular were chosen because the D.C. flag is one of the few things under direct local control without requiring approval from Congress. Critics noted, however, that the phrase was unlikely to raise much awareness. John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress The American Revolution was a political movement during the last half of the 18th century that ended British control of the... A Uniform Resource Locator, URL (spelled out as an acronym, not pronounced as earl), or Web address, is a standardized address name layout for resources (such as documents or images) on the Internet (or elsewhere). ... No taxation without representation was a catchphrase in the period 1763-1775 that summarized a primary grievance of the American colonists in the Thirteen colonies. ... It has been proposed below that Flag of Washington, D.C. be renamed and moved to Flag of the District of Columbia. ...

In January 2001, President Bush ordered the removal of the "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on the presidential limousines, replacing them with blank Washington, D.C. plates. This came shortly after President Bill Clinton had placed the new license plates on the limousines. It should be noted, however, that Bill Clinton waited until his final weeks in office before ordering the new license plates to be placed on his limousines. ^[1] George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ...

Comparisons

The political status of Washington, D.C. is comparable to that of the original British colonies in North America (compare the Declaratory Act of 1766 and the District clause of the U.S. Constitution). Each of these documents is the assertion of absolute power by a national legislature over an unrepresented portion of the population. More recently, Washington DC's status is somewhat comparable to U.S. territories in times past. With the exception of the Eastern Seaboard and Texas, all parts of current U.S. states were at one time or another part of a territory, which had a non-voting delegate to the House and no representation in the Senate. Citizens of U.S. territories were not eligible to vote for President. Several other political entities currently administered by the United States (including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) are currently identical to D.C. in having only a non-voting delegate to the House. However, the current examples are different from the territories of the past in that they are not being prepared for admission as U.S. states. The other current examples are also different from D.C. in that Washington has been an integral part of the U.S. for 200 years and still lacks representation in Congress. Furthermore, unlike modern U.S. territories, Washington D.C. is subject to all federal laws, including tax laws, and pays a higher than average tax per capita, although unrepresented in the national legislature. Currently, all United States territories are either unincorporated (meaning that they are not fully part of the United States, with all aspects of the United States Constitution applying automatically) or unorganized (meaning that they do not have a form of government specified by an Organic Act passed by the United... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      A state of the United States is any one of the fifty subnational entities referred to...

Citizens of Washington, D.C. are not unique in having diminished representation in their federal legislature, although they are unique in having no voting representation at all. Other nations that have built capital cities from scratch, including Australia and Nigeria, have diminished representation for a federal district. The Australian Capital Territory formerly had no representation in Australian federal politics, but was granted limited representation in both houses in 1973. On the other hand, Brazil has an expressly-built federal district with full representation in federal government. Mexico and Argentina also have federal districts with full representation, but they are less directly comparable in that Mexico City and Buenos Aires were major cities long before their federal districts were established. Federal districts are subdivisions of a federal system of government. ... Emblems: The floral emblem of the ACT is the Royal Bluebell and the faunal emblem is the Gang-gang cockatoo Motto: For the Queen, the Law and the People Slogan or Nickname: (none) Other Australian states and territories Capital Canberra Government Const. ...

History

The justification against statehood for the District is explained in the Federalist No. 43, where it is noted that the federal government needs to ensure a level of stability in order to perform its duties that could not be guaranteed by a reliance upon any state. The necessity of this provision is borne out by the riots outside the Pennsylvania hall that Congress met in before the District was established.^{[citation needed]} Any organization has reasonable expectation that it control the rules governing how it conducts its business. Whether or not this implies that the residents of the District should not have representation in Congress or the Electoral College is debatable. Also debatable is whether this requires that Congress needs the same absolute control "in all cases whatsoever" as asserted by the British Parliament in the Declaratory Act of 1766, or whether the same result could be achieved with some lesser degree of control, while respecting the principles that power derives from the people, and that just power flows from the consent of the governed. DC residents would argue, with James Madison, that "EQUAL LAWS PROTECTING EQUAL RIGHTS ARE THE BEST GUARANTEE OF LOYALTY & LOVE OF COUNTRY." (Madison to Jacob de la Motta, August, 1820). James Madison, author of Federalist No. ...

In 1961, the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, allowing District residents to vote for president and vice president. This right has been exercised by D.C. citizens since the election of 1964. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Amendment XXIII was the twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution which permits the District of Columbia to choose Electors for President and Vice President. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ...

In 1978, Congress passed on to the states another constitutional amendment, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which would have given the District its own voting members of Congress, making it virtually a state. However, a seven-year time limit was placed on the amendment, which was subsequently ratified by only a handful of states, far short of the three-quarters (currently 38) required for it to be ratified. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. ... Ratification includes the process of adopting an international treaty by the legislature, a constitution, or another nationally binding document (such as an amendment to a constitution) by the agreement of multiple sub-national entities. ...

In anticipation of the amendment's ratification, in 1980 District voters approved the call of a Constitutional Convention to draft a proposed state constitution, just as U.S. territories in the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries had done prior to their admission as states. The proposed constitution was ratifed by District voters in 1982 for a new state to be called "New Columbia". However, the failure of the proposed U.S. Constitutional amendment was deflating to the statehood movement, and the necessary authorization from Congress has never been granted. A constitutional convention is a gathering of delegates for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. ... In the context of the United States of America, a state constitution is the governing document of a U.S. state, comparable to the U.S. Constitution which is the governing document of the United States. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... New Columbia is the name of the proposed U.S. state that would be created by the admission of Washington, D.C. into the United States as the 51st state according to legislation offered starting in the 98th Congress in 1983 and routinely re-introduced in succeeding Congresses. ...

Pursuant to the proposed state constitution, the District still selects two "shadow Senators" and a "shadow Representative" to lobby for statehood in the two houses of Congress. These positions are not officially recognized by Congress. In addition, Congress has passed a law forbidding the spending of any money to lobby for statehood. The offices of shadow representative and shadow senator are elective offices in the District of Columbia. ... It has been suggested that Interest representation: Academic overview be merged into this article or section. ...

Proposals for change

Advocates have proposed several, competing reforms to increase the District's representation in Congress. These proposals generally involve either treating D.C. more like a state or having the state of Maryland take back the land it ceded to form the District, as Virginia did in 1847. Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,417 sq mi (32,160 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ...

Statehood

Main article: D.C. Statehood

Full statehood for D.C. could conceivably be achieved in either of two ways: via a constitutional amendment, or instead via an act of Congress. D.C. Statehood is the name of a political campaign intended to grant the District of Columbia the full privileges of a U.S. state, including full voting rights in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate. ...

In 1978, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have given full congressional voting representation to residents of the District of Columbia passed through both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. However, by 1985, when the seven year limit on ratification of the amendment set within the Congressional resolution adopting it expired, the amendment had only been ratified in 16 of the 50 states (38 needed for adoption).

Outright statehood for D.C. was last discussed in the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1993. At that time, the proposal was defeated by a vote of 277 to 153.

Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced the "No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2003" (S. 617) on March 13, 2003, in the U.S. Senate, and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced the same Act in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 1285). This legislation would treat D.C. as if it were a state for the purposes of voting representation in Congress. Unlike a constitutional amendment, a bill such as this, even if passed, could theoretically be repealed again by a future Congress. Joseph Isadore Lieberman (born February 24, 1942) is a Jewish-American Democratic politician and a current U.S. senator from Connecticut. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U.S. territory or from the District of Columbia. ... Eleanor Holmes Norton U.S. Delegate for the District of Columbia Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is the non-voting Delegate from the District of Columbia to the United States House of Representatives (map). ...

Proposals to retrocede D.C. to Maryland

Main article: Retrocession (District of Columbia)

The process of reuniting D.C. with the state of Maryland is sometimes referred to as retrocession. The original District of Columbia was formed out of parts of both Maryland and Virginia, and from 1790 until 1801 citizens living in D.C. continued to vote for, and even run as, candidates for the U.S. Congress in Maryland or Virginia. In 1846 the land from Virginia was given back to Virginia, such that most all the land in present-day D.C. was once part of Maryland. If both the U.S. Congress and the Maryland state legislature agreed, jurisdiction over the District of Columbia could be returned to Maryland. Retrocession, when referring to the District of Columbia, means the return of parts of the District of Columbia to the states from which territory was ceded to create the national capital of the United States. ...

Under a less ambitious proposal, residents of D.C. would be treated as Maryland voters for the purposes of Congressional elections. Congress could give D.C. residents the right to vote for Maryland candidates for the Senate and House, and Maryland's representation in the House could be calculated accordingly. The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... House - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Proposals to grant voting representation only in the House

Main article: District of Columbia Vote in House of Representatives

A compromise may be reached which would allow the District's delegate to Congress to be raised to the status of a full voting member of the U.S. House but still leave the District unrepresented in the Senate. However, this proposal for a District of Columbia vote in the House of Representatives did not come to a vote during the 109th United States Congress. The District of Columbia has never had voting representation in the United States Congress, but efforts are currently under way to enact a statute that would give the District one vote in the House of Representatives, though not in the Senate. ... Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is the lower of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. ... The 109th United States Congress was the meeting of the United Statess federal legislature, composed of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. ...

References

1. ^ New York Times Article on January 19, 2001.

See also

• Washington, D.C.
• District of Columbia home rule
• D.C. Statehood
• Retrocession (District of Columbia)
• District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment
• District of Columbia Vote in House of Representatives

Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... District of Columbia home rule is a term encompassing the controversy regarding the lack of an intrinsic right for citizens of the District of Columbia (i. ... D.C. Statehood is the name of a political campaign intended to grant the District of Columbia the full privileges of a U.S. state, including full voting rights in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate. ... Retrocession, when referring to the District of Columbia, means the return of parts of the District of Columbia to the states from which territory was ceded to create the national capital of the United States. ... The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. ... The District of Columbia has never had voting representation in the United States Congress, but efforts are currently under way to enact a statute that would give the District one vote in the House of Representatives, though not in the Senate. ...

External links

• D.C. Statehood Green Party
• DCVote.org
• History of Self-Government in Washington, DC, from the Council of the District of Columbia
• The Stamp Act Congress, Activists trying to raise awareness regarding the lack of Federal representation for Washington DC
• A Separate and Unequal District of Columbia
• District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006