March 29, 1961
The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections. Unaddressed by the Twenty-third Amendment were the parallel issues of congressional representation and “home rule” for the district. The 1973 Home Rule Act established an elected office of mayor and a 13-member elected council for the District although Congress retained veto power, if they chose to intervene. In 1971, President Nixon signed the District of Columbia Delegate Act which authorized voters in the District to elect one non-voting delegate to represent them in the House of Representatives. In 1978, Congress submitted the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment to the states for ratification, which would have granted the District of Columbia full representation in the United States Congress as if it were a state. The amendment was not ratified by the required number of states (38) prior to its 1985 ratification deadline.
