WASHINGTON – The people of the District of Columbia moved a step closer Thursday to gaining voting rights that have been denied to them for more than 200 years.
But the legislation passed by the House on a 241-177 vote faced a veto threat from the White House, which said the bill was unconstitutional.
The bill would increase full House membership from 435 to 437, giving the largely Democratic half-million residents of the district a seat and adding a temporary at-large seat for Republican-leaning Utah. The House has consisted of 435 seats since 1960.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., echoing the position of the Bush administration, said it was unconstitutional and he would oppose it.
“This legislation corrects a serious flaw in our democracy,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “We will not rest until full voting representation in the House is granted to the District of Columbia.”
Democrats had to pull a nearly identical bill from the floor a month ago after Republicans surprised them by proposing language, with a good chance of passing, that would have lifted the district’s ban on semiautomatic weapons and other tough gun restrictions.
Opponents of the legislation pointed to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, which says members of the House should be chosen “by the people of the several states.”
“Judges and legal experts agree that since D.C. is not a state, it cannot elect members of Congress,” said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
D.C. residents have had the right to vote in presidential elections since the 23rd Amendment was ratified in 1961.
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