Taxation Without Representation: Are Voting Rights Finally Coming to the Nation's Capital?

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Earlier this month, voters from the 50 U.S. states shaped the composition of the 110th Congress at the polls. Unable to join them were the 388,000 registered voters who call the District of Columbia home. Since 1801, District residents have had no voting representation in either the House or Senate; a fact referenced on thousands of DC license plates which read "Taxation without Representation." Over the years, there has been no shortage of bills and amendments introduced in Congress aimed at providing District residents with the ability to send a voting representative to, ironically, Washington. To date none have been successful.

Partisan politics are responsible for most of the failures. Republicans have historically been apprehensive about granting the District a seat due to its overwhelming Democratic majority. Recognizing this fact, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) sponsored a bill earlier this year which sought to cancel out the partisan implications. Under the bill, which now has 41 co-sponsors, the District would receive a voting member in the House, while Utah (a reliably Republican state) would be granted an additional seat as well (Utah missed an additional seat by a mere 857 residents following the 2000 census). The main point of contention centers on the form that the new Utah seat would take. Many Democrats want it to be an "at-large" seat (as the bill currently calls for) so the Republican-dominated Utah state legislature could not redraw the state's congressional districts and gerrymander Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), the state's lone Democrat in Congress, out of his seat. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the outgoing chair of the House Judiciary Committee, stated that this was unacceptable in September, and refused to bring the bill up for a committee vote. Incoming Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), however, is a strong proponent of the bill's current version, as is incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). President Bush, when caught off-guard a few weeks ago by a reporter asking about his stance on the bill, said he had "not heard of it," but would "look at" it.

Davis' bill is not the only DC voting rights proposal which was introduced during the 109th Congress. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I/D-Conn.) has introduced legislation which would provide both a voting House member as well as two senators to the District. The bill has never received a floor vote, but could receive attention in the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress. A separate DC-voting measure, introduced by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) early in 2005, would allow District residents to vote in Maryland congressional elections. The bill has received little support.

For a more detailed look at legislation involving District voting rights, as well as a thorough history of the issue, be sure to check out Congresspedia's new page on the topic.