The Most Overrated and Underrated Stories of the Year D.C. Vote Disappears American Newspeak. Last November's elections saw voters in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Alaska legalize the medical use of marijuana. The Washington D.C. electorate may have also approved their own medical marijuana ballot initiative. Initiative 59, if passed, would permit people to use marijuana on a doctor's recommendation.
Exit polls suggest voters overwhelmingly approved the measure.
What the actual ballots say, no one is allowed to know. Congress added an amendment to the D.C. appropriations bill that made it illegal for election officials to count Initiative 59's votes. The District of Columbia, being a federal district and not a proper state, makes do without a legislature. Congress gets to play that role for them. Since residents of D.C. don't get to vote for any congresspersons, this relationship tends to be a little tense.