Working to End Taxation Without Representation in America's Capital

Currently, more than half a million Americans living in our nation's capital have no congressional voting rights. They have no vote for jobs, no vote for health care, no vote for education or any issue debated and voted on by the U.S. Congress.

Founded in 1998, DC Vote works to secure full voting rights in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia by:

• Informing Congress and the American public about this injustice
  
  
• Formulating solutions with coalition partners and elected officials
  
  
• Promoting change based on the principle that a government is democratic only when people have the ability, through freely elected leaders, to shape the laws under which they must live

In the past 12 months DC Vote has:

• Managed a broad-based advocacy effort that led to the passage of the DC House Voting Rights Act by the U.S. House of Representatives
  
  
• Mobilized 5,000 supporters to make the Voting Rights March the largest demonstration ever on a DC issue
  
  
• Organized 500 volunteers on a single day to visit congressional offices
  
  
• Added 20 new organizations to the DC Vote coalition
  
  
• Placed videos, interviews and audio features on stations in more than 250 cities, reaching millions of Americans
  
  
• Generated more than 700 news articles and 30 positive editorials on DC voting rights
  
  
• Organized four Hill briefings attended by dozens of members of Congress and their aides
  
  
• Helped congressional committee staff prepare for seven hearings on the DC House Voting Rights Act
  
  
• Provided information to more than 1 million visitors to our Web site and 19,000 subscribers to our e-mail bulletins
  
  
• Spoken on DC voting rights at more than 50 community events and forums

Why Is Congressional Voting Representation Important for DC?

The District of Columbia is the only jurisdiction in the United States where Americans fulfill all the responsibilities of citizenship but are denied equal rights. Americans living in Washington, DC, have no voting representation in Congress: no vote in the U.S. Senate and no vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. Here are some ways the injustice affects DC citizens:

• Military Service: DC’s daughters and sons fight and die for America defending freedom and democracy but have no vote when Congress votes to send them to war.
  
  
• Federal Taxes: People living in DC pay the second highest per capita federal income taxes in the country but have no vote on how the federal government spends their money.
  
  
• Voting Rights: Concerned American citizens living in our nation’s capital have no vote on important issues affecting nearly every aspect of their daily lives including: health care, Social Security, environmental protection, crime control, public safety and foreign policy.
  
  
• Education: Parents, teachers and community leaders have no vote when it comes to shaping national educational policies and academic standards.
  
  
• Economy and Business: DC’s business owners and workers are denied a vote in determining how Congress regulates business policy and the economy.
  
  
• Law: Local laws passed by locally elected officials are routinely overruled by members of Congress pursuing their own personal agendas without regard for the welfare of DC residents.

Can This Injustice Be Resolved?

Both Republicans and Democrats agree that all Americans deserve democracy. Legal opinions from conservative legal experts like Judge Kenneth Starr and Professor Viet D. Dinh support Congress'authority under the Constitution to give the District of Columbia voting representation in Congress through simple legislation. Congress does not need to amend the Constitution or make DC a state to give DC a vote in the People's House. Read more about the DC voting rights legislation currently moving through Congress.

DC Vote is working to raise national public awareness so that Americans across the country will contact their members of Congress and senators and demand a vote for DC. Find out how you can quickly contact your member of Congress or senators.

      Print Friendly