On March 29, 1961, The twenty-third Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified. This amendment says:
“The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.”[1]
This amendment allowed American citizens living within the District of Columbia, also known as Washington, DC, to participate in presidential elections. In essence, citizens within the District of Columbia were given the right to vote on matters that pertained to the federal government.
[1] “U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Third Amendment | Resources | Constitution Annotated | Congress.Gov | Library of Congress,” accessed March 29, 2023, https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-23/.
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