D.C. Congressional representation fails yet again
BY HELEN STROM

On December 12th, 1800, Washington D.C. was officially inaugurated as the capital of the United States of America. Within a matter of months, Congress passed the Organic Acts of 1801, establishing a system of local governance but making no provision for the city’s representation in the national government. Although over 14,000 citizens lived within the city at the time, the legislators placed the need for a strong and stable central government ahead of the interests of the District, assuming that the omission would be addressed later on.

Over 200 years and almost 600,000 residents later, the District of Columbia still lacks voting representation in both the House and the Senate. So why is the United States the only democracy in the world that denies the citizens of its capital a vote in the national legislature? The answer lies within the structural and political obstacles posed by the country’s system of government.

‘A Political Catch 22’
Despite the lack of change in the District’s political status in Congress, the city’s history is riddled with efforts to bring the vote to D.C.’s citizens. However, Congress is the only body with the authority to remedy the situation, so District residents have been forced to lobby a body in which they have no formal representation. As Ilir Zherka, executive director of the advocacy group DC Vote, told the HPR, “It’s the prototypical political catch-22.”

D.C. residents have also suffered from a lack of public awareness surrounding the issue, a significant handicap in a country where public opinion often drives political action. A nationwide study performed in 2005 revealed that while 82% of Americans support full Congressional representation for the District, an equal percentage are not aware that D.C. currently does not have such representation. This public ignorance contributed to one of the D.C. voting rights’ movement’s most bitter defeats just over twenty years ago. In 1978, Congress overwhelmingly passed a Constitutional amendment giving the District full representation. However, amendments must also be ratified by three-fourths of the states, a requirement demanding substantial resources, lobbying, and organization. According to Dr. Mark Richards, a sociologist who has studied the subject of D.C. voting rights, activists were not prepared to conduct the comprehensive campaign required to educate uninformed state legislatures, ultimately leading to the amendment’s defeat in 1985.

A Question of Race
The historic oppression of African-Americans within the American political system has also hindered the progress of the voting rights’ movement. Emphasizing the fact that 60 percent of District residents are African-American, supporters of the D.C. rights’ movement have characterized the disenfranchisement of the District as racist. This allegation has a strong foundation in the historical record. In 1871, as former slaves moved into the city with their newly-acquired right to vote, Congress stripped the District of its long-standing system of local governance, a system which was not restored until the advent of the modern civil rights movement. Thus, while racial issues do not appear to be a major force behind current mainstream opposition to voting rights’ initiatives, their historical importance did play a role in the current structure of D.C. governance.

Partisan Politics
The partisan rivalries and power politics that characterize Congress have also served as a major impediment to voting rights initiatives for D.C. This year, District advocates introduced a bill that may have been the city’s best chance yet to gain a voting Representative in the House. Seeking a solution to appease Republican concerns about giving a seat to the heavily-Democratic District (89% of residents voted for John Kerry in 2004), the D.C. Voting Rights Act would have given Washington D.C. its first voting Representative while apportioning an additional seat to heavily-Republican Utah.

After easily passing the House in April, however, the bill failed to pass the Senate on partisan lines in September. But despite the setback, supporters are looking forward to 2009, at which point they hope to renew efforts when a new Congress and White House may be more supportive of the bill. But whatever the partisan makeup of the years to come, old systems die hard and it may be a long time yet before District residents are fully enfranchised.¨ ]]>