District of Columbia Voting Representation in Congress: An Analysis of Legislative Proposals

Eugene Boyd
Analyst in Federalism and Economic Development Policy

This report provides a summary and analysis of legislative proposals that would provide voting representation in Congress to residents of the District of Columbia. Since the issue of voting representation for District residents was first broached in 1801, Congress has considered five legislative options: (1) seek voting rights in Congress by constitutional amendment, (2) retrocede the District to Maryland (retrocession), (3) allow District residents to vote in Maryland for their representatives to the House and Senate (semi-retrocession), (4) grant the District statehood, and (5) define the District as a congressional district for the purpose of voting representation in the House of Representatives. 

On January 6, 2009, the non-voting delegate for the District of Columbia, Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduced H.R. 157, the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009, a bill that would permanently increase the size of the House from 435 to 437 Members and provide voting representation to the District and the state most likely to gain an additional representative, Utah. Weeks later, on January 23, 2009, Representative Dana Rohrabacher introduced H.R. 665, a bill that would provide voting rights to District citizens by retroceding the District of Columbia to Maryland. Also on January 6, Senator Lieberman introduced S. 160, a related bill of the same title as H.R. 157. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee reported S. 160 on February 12, 2009. The House Judiciary Committee reported an amended version of H.R. 157 on February 25, 2009, by a vote of 20-12. A provision amending the city's gun control laws was introduced during Committee markup of the bill, but was withdrawn before a vote. The full Senate passed the bill on February 26, 2009, by a vote of 61-37. The Senate bill includes a controversial provision unrelated to voting rights that would amend the District's gun control laws. 

These proposals would grant voting representation by statute, eschewing the constitutional amendment process and statehood option. Any proposal considered by Congress faces three distinct challenges. It must (1) address issues raised by Article 1, Sec. 2 of the Constitution, which limits voting representation to states; (2) provide for the continued existence of the District of Columbia as the "Seat of Government of the United States" (Article 1, Sec. 8); and (3) consider its impact on the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution, which grants three electoral votes to the District of Columbia. For a discussion of constitutional issues of proposed legislation, see CRS Report RL33824, The Constitutionality of Awarding the Delegate for the District of Columbia a Vote in the House of Representatives or the Committee of the Whole, by Kenneth R. Thomas.


Date of Report: April 19, 2010
Number of Pages: 29
Order Number: RL33830
Price: $29.95

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