TheDistrict of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, officiallyAn Act Concerning the District of Columbia (6th Congress, 2nd Sess., ch. 15, 2 Stat. 103, February 27, 1801), is anorganic act enacted by theUnited States Congress in accordance withArticle 1, Section 8 of theUnited States Constitution. It formally placed theDistrict of Columbia under the control of theUnited States Congress and organized the territory within the district into two counties:Washington County to the north and east of thePotomac River andAlexandria County to the west and south. Thecharters of the existing cities ofGeorgetown andAlexandria were left in place and no change was made to their status. Thecommon law of bothMaryland andVirginia remained in force within the district.[1] The act also established theUnited States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia with jurisdiction over the new counties.[2]
On May 3, 1802, the City of Washington was granted a municipal government consisting of a mayor appointed by thepresident of the United States. The portion of the District of Columbia ceded by Virginia wasreturned to that state in 1846-47.[3] TheDistrict of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 replaced the municipal governments of the City of Washington, Georgetown, and Washington County with a single, unified district government for the whole district.
Following the passage of this Act, residents of the District of Columbia were no longer considered to be residents of either Maryland or Virginia. This left district residents unable to vote for members of Congress. They have voted inpresidential elections since the adoption of theTwenty-third Amendment in 1961 (which first applied in theelection of 1964). District residents are represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting delegate who can vote in committee and participate in debate, but cannot vote for final passage of a bill in theHouse. There have been several efforts to give the inhabitants of the district representation, but the United States remains perhaps the only modern republic where residents of its own capital are disenfranchised.[4]
