House Action Slated on Voting Rights for District of Columbia, Additional Utah SeatBy Michael Teitelbaum
Published March 7th 2007 in CQ Politics
A potentially controversial bill that would give full voting rights to a District of Columbia representative would be on the House floor by the end of March.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., released a statement Wednesday on bringing the bill (HR 328) to the floor and noted, “The people of the District have waited too long to have a voice in the House.”
The current bill would permanently increase the House membership to 437 and give a fourth, specifically drawn seat to Utah. But that bill is expected to be changed to make the additional Utah seat at-large.
Aides familiar with the discussions noted that the likely change would be based on the fact that the current three Utah members have just had elections and would not want to run again in newly redrawn districts if the bill were to become law.
“We in the District embrace this milestone in the journey of our citizens for two centuries to obtain the most basic of American citizenship rights — the cherished right to be represented in the People’s House,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
She said both committees with jurisdiction — Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform — would take up the bill next week.
Ilir Zherka, executive director of the voting rights advocacy organization DC Vote , noted that another possible change refers to the elimination of the delegate and statehood representative positions.
Conservatives, such as Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., say the bill is unconstitutional. “The Constitution clearly provides how congressmen and senators are allocated to states,” he said. “The federal city is not a state.”
They also cite a recent Congressional Research Service report noting that “it would appear likely that Congress does not have the authority to grant voting representation in the House to the [District] Delegate” under the current legislation.
But Zherka said, “Ultimately, the courts will decide the issue.”
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.