District of Columbia voting rights
The District of Columbia is a special federal district, not a state, and therefore does not have voting representation in Congress. In the House of Representatives, the District is represented by a delegate, who is not allowed to vote on the House floor but can vote on procedural matters and in congressional committees. In 1788, the land on which the District of Washington is formed was ceded by Maryland.
About District of Columbia voting rights in brief
The District of Columbia is a special federal district, not a state, and therefore does not have voting representation in Congress. In the House of Representatives, the District is represented by a delegate, who is not allowed to vote on the House floor but can vote on procedural matters and in congressional committees. The Twenty-third Amendment, adopted in 1961, entitles the District to the same number of electoral votes as that of the least populous state in the election of the President and Vice President. In January 1801, a meeting of District citizens was held which resulted in a statement to Congress noting that we shall be completely disfranchised in the impending Organic Act of 1801. We retain no respect for the national government, while we retain no participating in the formation of even the most local regulations. We shall retain no participation in the forming of any state laws or regulations, even if they are affected by which we are affected. We will retain no involvement in the decision making process of the federal government, even though we are involved in the creation of many local laws and regulations. In 1788, the land on which the District of Washington is formed was ceded by Maryland. The Constitution grants Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District in “all cases whatsoever”. In 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act placing the District on the Potomac River between the Anacostia and Conococheague Creek with the exact location chosen by President George Washington. The Congress did not officially move to the new federal capital until the first Monday in December 1800.
During that time the District was governed by a combination of a federally appointed Board of Commissioners, the state legislatures, and locally elected governments. On February 27, 1801 after moving to the District, Congress passing the Act of Columbia, making Congress the supreme source of all local laws permitted by the District. Since the District ceased being a state and was not a part of any other state, it was not part of the Constitutional process and was part of Congress. There were a number of reasons why voting rights for the District were not addressed. One was that it was effectively agreed at an early stage that the capital was to be in the South, and Northerners would have bitterly opposed any clause that would give the South even more voting power. Also, given the capital’s planned location, many delegates assumed its permanent residents would largely consist of slaves unable to vote in any case. This belief resulted in thecreation of a national capital, separate from any state, by the Constitution’s District Clause. The District Clause states: To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States. All proposals have been met with political or constitutional challenges, and there has been no change in the District’s representation in the Senate. The District has been a special district since 1788 and was incorporated as a state in 1801 and incorporated its sole authority as a federal District.
You want to know more about District of Columbia voting rights?
This page is based on the article District of Columbia voting rights published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
