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Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution

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The Twenty-third Amendment (Amendment XXIII) to the United States Constitution permits citizens in the District of Columbia to vote for Electors for President and Vice President. The amendment was proposed by Congress on June 17, 1960, and ratified by the states on March 29, 1961. The first Presidential election in which it was in effect was the presidential election of 1964.

Prior to the passage of the amendment, residents of Washington, D.C. were unable to vote for President or Vice President as the District is not a U.S. state. They are still unable to send voting Representatives or Senators to Congress.

The amendment restricts the district to the number of Electors of the least populous state, irrespective of its own population. As of 2010, that is Wyoming and three Electors. However, even without this clause, the district's present population would only entitle it to three electors.

Since the passage of this amendment, the District's electoral votes have gone towards the Democratic candidates in every presidential election.[1]

Text

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.

Proposal and ratification

  Ratified amendment, 1960–61
  Ratified amendment post-enactment (NH: 1961, AL: 2002)
  Rejected amendment
  Didn't ratify amendment
Amendment XXIII in the National Archives

Congress proposed the Twenty-third Amendment on June 17, 1960.[2] The following states ratified the amendment:

  1. Hawaii (June 23, 1960)
  2. Massachusetts (August 22, 1960)
  3. New Jersey (December 19, 1960)
  4. New York (January 17, 1961)
  5. California (January 19, 1961)
  6. Oregon (January 27, 1961)
  7. Maryland (January 30, 1961)
  8. Idaho (January 31, 1961)
  9. Maine (January 31, 1961)
  10. Minnesota (January 31, 1961)
  11. New Mexico (February 1, 1961)
  12. Nevada (February 2, 1961)
  13. Montana (February 6, 1961)
  14. South Dakota (February 6, 1961)
  15. Colorado (February 8, 1961)
  16. Washington (February 9, 1961)
  17. West Virginia (February 9, 1961)
  18. Alaska (February 10, 1961)
  19. Wyoming (February 13, 1961)
  20. Delaware (February 20, 1961)
  21. Utah (February 21, 1961)
  22. Wisconsin (February 21, 1961)
  23. Pennsylvania (February 28, 1961)
  24. Indiana (March 3, 1961)
  25. North Dakota (March 3, 1961)
  26. Tennessee (March 6, 1961)
  27. Michigan (March 8, 1961)
  28. Connecticut (March 9, 1961)
  29. Arizona (March 10, 1961)
  30. Illinois (March 14, 1961)
  31. Nebraska (March 15, 1961)
  32. Vermont (March 15, 1961)
  33. Iowa (March 16, 1961)
  34. Missouri (March 20, 1961)
  35. Oklahoma (March 21, 1961)
  36. Rhode Island (March 22, 1961)
  37. Kansas (March 29, 1961)
  38. Ohio (March 29, 1961)
  • Ratification was completed on March 29, 1961. The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states:
  1. New Hampshire (March 30, 1961)
  2. Alabama (April 16, 2002)

The New Hampshire ratification was somewhat irregular; a vote for ratification was taken on the 29th, but was immediately rescinded. Another vote was taken the 30th to ratify the amendment.[3][4]

The amendment was rejected by the following state:

  1. Arkansas (January 24, 1961)

The following states have not ratified the amendment:

  1. Florida
  2. Kentucky
  3. Mississippi
  4. Georgia
  5. South Carolina
  6. Louisiana
  7. Texas
  8. North Carolina
  9. Virginia

Proposed repeal

The 23rd Amendment would have been repealed by the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which proposed to give the District full representation in the United States Congress, full representation in the Electoral College system, and full participation in the process by which the U.S. Constitution is amended. The amendment (as a resolution) was passed by Congress on August 22, 1978, but failed to be ratified by the required 38 states prior to its expiration on August 22, 1985.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Political party strength in Washington, D.C.
  2. ^ Mount, Steve (2007). "Ratification of Constitutional Amendments". Retrieved October 11, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Suber, Peter. Population Changes and Constitutional Amendments: Federalism Versus Democracy. Accessed 2010-01-22.
  4. ^ Amendment XXIII: Election rules for the District of Columbia. Accessed 2010-01-22.

References

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