Amendment, Twenty-Third

Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1961, that allows Washington, DC, residents to vote in presidential elections. This amendment allows the District of Columbia to have proportional representation in presidential elections, like a state, but it does not allow residents to vote for members of Congress.

When the capital was first established in Washington DC, legislators did not anticipate its growth into a population centre. By 1960 more than three quarters of a million people lived there, making it more populous than several states. Many people argue that Washington, DC, should have equal voting rights to the states, giving a modern context to the colonial slogan ‘No Taxation without Representation’.