Amendment 23

AMENDMENT XXIII

SECTION 1.

The District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a state, but in no event more than the least populous state; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the states, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a state; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

SECTION 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Simplified:

The 23rd amendment gives residents of Washington DC the right to vote for representatives in the Electoral College. Remember that the Electoral College chooses our next president, based on the voting within their state. Since DC is not a state, its residents were not allowed to vote for President as well as elected voting representative to Congress. Today, DC sends a delegate to Congress who may speak on behalf of those that live in DC, but that delegate may not vote.

The 23rd amendment passed Congress in June of 1960 and reached the ¾ approval threshold less than a year later, on March 23, 1961.

Do you feel as though the 23rd amendment is a fair representation of D.C. since they are in fact not a state.

Do you think there is anything wrong with it and it should it be changed in anyway or form?