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TheDistrict of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was aproposed amendment to theUnited States Constitution that would have given theDistrict of Columbia full representation in theUnited States Congress, full representation in theElectoral College system, and full participation in the process by which theConstitution is amended. It would have also repealed theTwenty-third Amendment, which granted the District of Columbia the same number of electoral votes as that of the least populous state, but gave it no role incontingent elections.
The amendment was proposed by the U.S. Congress on August 22, 1978, and thelegislatures of the 50states were given seven years to consider it. Ratification by 38 states was necessary for the amendment to become part of the Constitution; only 16 states had ratified it when the seven-year time limit expired on August 22, 1985. This proposed constitutional amendment is the most recent one to have been sent to the states for their consideration.[1]
Section 1. For purposes of representation in the Congress, election of the President and Vice President, andarticle V of this Constitution, the District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall be treated as though it were a State.
Section 2. The exercise of the rights and powers conferred under this article shall be by the people of the District constituting the seat of government, and as shall be provided by the Congress.
Section 3. Thetwenty-third article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 4. This article shall be inoperative, unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.[2]
RepresentativeDon Edwards ofCalifornia proposed House Joint Resolution 554 in the95th Congress. TheUnited States House of Representatives passed it on March 2, 1978, by a 289–127 vote, with 18 not voting.[3]
The Senate considered the amendment on August 22, 1978.[4] It had considerable bipartisan support, with both Majority LeaderRobert Byrd (D–WV) and Minority LeaderHoward Baker (R–TN) pressing for its passage. Debate centered on theFounding Fathers' original intentions for the capital city, the morality of denying 700,000 American citizens congressional representation, and the constitutionality of the proposal.
Support for the amendment came from across the political spectrum, though liberal Democrats were its most visible defenders. DemocratPatrick Leahy ofVermont rebutted arguments from conservatives that extending full voting rights to D.C. was unfair to rural states. Citing his state's rural nature, Leahy asserted that the proposal was not "a case of rural versus urban," but rather about "simple justice, overdue justice."Alaska DemocratMike Gravel argued that the principles of democracy triumph over policies, expressing his support for the proposal despite the likelihood of the District's representatives "voting against the Alaskan position on d-2 land" and encouraging "more government rather than more implementation through the private sector."
Several Republicans also spoke out in support. Michigan'sRobert P. Griffin noted the United States' unusual treatment of D.C., stating, "In only one other country in the world—Brazil—are residents of the capital city denied representation in their national legislature."Edward Brooke ofMassachusetts brought up his Washington upbringing in expressing his support for the amendment, whileBob Dole reminded colleagues that the GOP had included full voting representation for the District of Columbia in its party platform adopted at the1976 Republican National Convention.Lowell Weicker ofConnecticut went so far as to argue that the proposed amendment was not enough, instead advocating for theDistrict of Columbia's admission as a state.
One particularly notable supporter of the amendment wasStrom Thurmond (R–SC), notorious for his longtime support ofracial segregation. Reflecting his gradual shift toward more moderate views on race, he supported the amendment despite the District of Columbia'sBlack-majority population. Noting the United States' commitment to exemplifying the ideals of democracy, he asked, "How can we do that when three-quarters of a million people are not allowed to have voting representation in the capital city of this Nation?"
Opposition to the amendment, meanwhile, came almost exclusively from conservatives.Ted Stevens (R–AK) was a particularly vocal foe:
"If this area is tired of being the seat of Government, if it does not wish to vote in Maryland and not have the seat of Government moved, I would be happy to suggest the Capitol be moved. We went through it once in the forties. I would be more than happy to go through it again. And I shall propose it next year. Let us move the Capitol. Let us build a Federal City in which nobody lives, in which there are just buildings and the seat of Government. Let us make Washington, D.C., a historical monument, another part of the Park Service, if you will. So many people are interested in making much of my State a national park. I will be delighted to assist in making this a national park so everybody in the world will come and see how we ran the Government of the United States for the first 200 years."
Other opponents of the amendment proposed more serious compromises.Mississippi DemocratJohn C. Stennis advocated for giving the District only one senator, while Oklahoma'sDewey F. Bartlett tried to alter the amendment to assure that Congress could not exercise committee oversight of D.C. There was considerable discussion ofretroceding the District of Columbia back intoMaryland, though Maryland SenatorsCharles Mathias andPaul Sarbanes quickly doused the idea.
Orrin Hatch alleged that the proposal contradictedArticle V of the United States Constitution, which guarantees that "no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate." Hatch claimed this meant that all 50 states would have to approve the amendment. In a blistering retort,Ted Kennedy said, "It fails in terms of logic. How can a constitutional amendment be unconstitutional?"
The amendment ultimately passed with the support of 48 Democrats and 19 Republicans. Exactly 80% of the Democratic caucus voted for the amendment, while Republicans split evenly. The chamber's sole independent,Harry F. Byrd Jr. ofVirginia, voted nay.
With that, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was submitted to thestate legislatures for ratification. The Congress, via Section 4, included the requirement that ratification by three-fourths (38) of the states be completed within seven years following its passage by the Congress (i.e., August 22, 1985) in order for the proposed amendment to become part of the Constitution.[5] By placing the ratification deadline in the text of the proposed amendment the deadline could not be extended without a separate amendment to the Constitution. This was in contrast to the ratification deadline of theEqual Rights Amendment[broken anchor], which was restricted by statute and not the amendment itself,[6] and which later became the subject oflegal debate.[7][8]
Ratification status of the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment Ratified amendment |
Ratification by the legislatures of at least 38 of the 50 states by August 22, 1985, was necessary for the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment to become part of the Constitution. During the seven-year period specified by Congress it was ratified by only 16 states and so failed to be adopted.[9] The amendment was ratified by the following states:
The text of the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment states that it will be "inoperative" if ratified past the original seven-year deadline.[6] Therefore, if the necessary 38 states ratify the amendment in the future, it will be added to the Constitution but have no effect.
Had it been adopted, this proposed amendment would have allowed theDistrict of Columbia and its population to participate in federal institutions on equal footing with the states, but it would not havemade the district into a state, nor affected Congress's authority over it. The District of Columbia would have been given full representation in both houses of Congress, so that it would have two senators and a variable number of representatives based on population.
The proposed amendment would also have repealed thetwenty-third amendment, which does not allow the district to have more electoral votes "than the least populous State", nor does it grant the District of Columbia any role incontingent elections of the president by theHouse of Representatives (or of thevice president by the Senate). In contrast, this proposed amendment would have provided the district full participation in presidential (and vice presidential) elections.
Finally, the proposed amendment would have allowed theCouncil of the District of Columbia, the Congress, or the people of the district (depending on how the amendment would have been interpreted) to decide whether to ratify any proposed amendment to the Constitution, or to apply to the Congress for aconvention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, just as a state's legislature can under the Constitutional amendment process laid out inArticle V of the Constitution.[10]
