District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment
The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. It was proposed by Congress in 1978 but failed because it was not ratified by the legislatures of enough (38) states when the August 1985 deadline set in the Congressional resolution passed. Had it succeeded, the amendment would have repealed the Twenty-Third Amendment and would have granted the District of Columbia the full voting rights of a U.S. state. Specifically it would have given Washington, D.C. full representation in the United States Congress in addition to its already-established participation in the Electoral College during Presidential elections. In 1980, voters in the District of Columbia approved a citywide initiative calling for a constitutional convention for a new state, to be called New Columbia. The product of that convention–the statehood constitution–was adopted by the city's voters in 1982. Provisions of the statehood constitution are still upheld in the electing of a shadow United States Senator to lobby Congress on behalf of local interests.
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