District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment

The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would have given the District of Columbia full representation in the United States Congress, full representation in the Electoral college system, and full participation in how the Constitution is amended. It was proposed by Congress on August 22, 1978. It was ratified by only 16 states by the time it expired on August 22, 1985. It was 22 ratifications short of the needed 38 in order for the proposed amendment to have been adopted.

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Legislative history
Representative Don Edwards of California proposed House Joint Resolution 554 in the 95th Congress. The United States House of Representatives passed it on March 2, 1978, by a 289–127 vote, with 18 not voting.124 Congressional Record 5272–5273 The United States Senate passed it on August 22, 1978, by a 67–32 vote, with 1 not voting.124 Congressional Record 27260 With that, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. The Congress included in the text of the proposed amendment that 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.In Dillon v. Gloss, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Congress's authority to impose time limits on ratification. By placing the ratification deadline in the text of the proposed amendment, the deadline could not be extended, as had been done regarding the Equal Rights Amendment.

Ratification history

New Jersey on September 11, 1978
Michigan on December 13, 1978
Ohio on December 21, 1978
Minnesota on March 19, 1979
Massachusetts on March 19, 1979
Connecticut on April 11, 1979
Wisconsin on November 1, 1979
Maryland on March 19, 1980
Hawaii on April 17, 1980
Oregon on July 6, 1981
Maine on February 16, 1983
West Virginia on February 23, 1983
Rhode Island on May 13, 1983
Iowa on January 19, 1984
Louisiana on June 24, 1984
Delaware on June 28, 1984

Effects if it had been adopted
If it had been adopted, this amendment would have given Washington, D.C. full representation in both houses of the Congress. It would have repealed the Twenty-third Amendment. The Twenty-third Amendment does not allow Washington, D.C. to have more electoral votes "than the least populous State," nor does it grant Washington, D.C. any role in the election of a President by the House of Representatives (or that of the Vice President by the Senate). This would have provided Washington, D.C. full participation in the Electoral College. It would have also allowed the Council of the District of Columbia, the Congress, or the people of Washington D.C. (depending on how this proposed amendment would have been interpreted) to decide whether to ratify any proposed amendment to the Constitution, or to apply to the Congress for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution, just as a state's legislature can according to the Constitutional amendment process. The amendment would not have made Washington, D.C. a state, nor affected Congress's authority over it.New York State Legislature - Background Paper 79-3

References

Category:Proposed amendments to the United States Constitution