Voting without representation
Yesterday's Potomac primaries called attention to an ongoing injustice in our election system. Residents of Washington D.C. can vote in the primary. They can send delegates to the conventions, but when November comes they will be without a voice. The time has long past when Washington was considered unimportant because it is not a state. Too many people live there now to allow them to be voiceless in our elections. Many of the residents of Washington work for the government, they are closely involved in the political process and want to make their views heard. The League has long supported their right to vote, but the battle is a long one and has not yet been won. No matter which of the presidential candidates eventually wins, any new administration should move to correct this injustice soon.
posted by League of Women Voters of San Francisco at
9:09 AM
7 Comments:
They could always move to an actual state, or, apply for statehood.
Our Founders had reason for NOT granting DC statehood or its residence the right to vote.
Should Puerto Ricans be allowed to vote in the General Election, too?
easy for YOU to say...
Obama is not really anti-war. He wants to keep troops in Iraq, send more troops to Afghanistan and even invade Pakistan. He also called for a nuclear 1st strike against Iran if need be.
Obama is a sham. He says he is anti-war, for change, and a washington outsider, but really hes just a good looking, well spoken liar who is a puppet of the war machine.
Do some reading. Find out what these people really believe.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3434573&page=1
Im voting for Hillary, it's time for a woman to be president, Obama is just more of the same wrapped up with pretty words, I know that Hillary will get in the trenches and fight for us. GO HILLARY!!
alley,
I don't think DC's economy, government, or political infrastructure are ready for statehood. However, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't have legitimate representation in the federal government. After all, they pay federal taxes and must abide by federal laws. Why shouldn't they get a proportionate number of electoral votes, and even a full Representative in the House?
With due respect to the ideals, vision, and sagacity of the Founders, they also saw fit to deny women the right to vote, and to deny basic human rights to slaves. Times change and so do ethics.
Even in nearby Virginia, which is represented in Congress, my new polling place was hidden from the street and took some research to locate. There were virtually no flag displays and certainly none of the typical candidate boosters to be seen. It is interesting that one of the biggest primary contests ever would not encourage local voters and make it easy to cast a ballot.
It's new to me that the people residing in D.C. do not have the right to vote and are not represented. That's not right I thought all U.S. citizens had the right to vote and equal protection. I hadn't heard that the residents of the nations capitol were not citizens. Let's enfranchise them and so we can have two more Democratic Senators representing a very small portion of the electorate!
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