Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Publication Information
2021 Harv. J. L. Pub. Pol'y Per Curiam 11.
Abstract
Proposals to make the District of Columbia a state would leave behind a new, substantially smaller District named "Capital." The Twenty-Third Amendment guarantees that the new District would have three electoral votes, no matter how few people reside in it. Proposals that would make the District of Columbia state do not adequately address this issue. Statehood, if it proceeds, should be conditioned on repeal of the Twenty-Third Amendment. Potential alternative statutory solutions to the Twenty-Third Amendment--which do not exist in recent bills that Congress has considered--present constitutional, legal, and practical problems.
In one sense, the scope of this Article is modest. It does not weigh in on the constitutionality of admitting the District of Columbia as a state. It does not address the policy question of whether it ought to become a state. It only addresses the Twenty-Third Amendment and related, practical voting rights problems. But these problems are serious and vexing; problems that present legislation is inadequate to address, and that alternative proposed solutions also fail to address.
Recommended Citation
Derek T. Muller,
Twenty-Third Amendment Problems Confronting District of Columbia Statehood,
2021 Harv. J. L. Pub. Pol'y Per Curiam 11..
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/1912
Included in
Constitutional Law Commons, Election Law Commons, Litigation Commons
Comments
This Article is based upon testimony given to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, "Examining D.C. Statehood," June 22, 2021.