November 3: General Interest

1964 : D.C. residents cast first presidential votes

On this day in 1964, residents of the District of
Columbia cast their ballots in a presidential election
for the first time. The passage of the 23rd Amendment
in 1961 gave citizens of the nation's capital the
right to vote for a commander in chief and vice
president. They went on to help Democrat Lyndon
Johnson defeat Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964, the
next presidential election.

Between 1776 and 1800, New York and then Philadelphia
served as the temporary center of government for the
newly formed United States. The capital's location was
a source of much controversy and debate, especially
for Southern politicians, who didn't want it located
too far north. In 1790, Congress passed a law allowing
President George Washington to choose the permanent
site. As a compromise, he selected a tract of
undeveloped swampland on the Potomac River, between
Maryland and Virginia, and began to refer to it as
Federal City. The commissioners overseeing the
development of the new city picked its permanent
name--Washington--to honor the president. Congress met
for the first time in Washington, D.C., on November
17, 1800.

The District was put under the jurisdiction of
Congress, which terminated D.C. residents' voting
rights in 1801. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment restored
these rights, allowing D.C. voters to choose electors
for the Electoral College based on population, with a
maximum of as many electors as the least populated
state. With a current population of over 550,000
residents, 61-square-mile D.C. has three electoral
votes, just like Wyoming, America's smallest state,
population-wise. The majority of D.C.'s residents are
African Americans and they have voted overwhelmingly
for Democratic candidates in past presidential
elections.

In 1970, Congress gave Washington, D.C., one
non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives
and with the passage of 1973's Home Rule Act,
Washingtonians got their first elected mayor and city
council. In 1978, a proposed amendment would have
given D.C. the right to select electors,
representatives and senators, just like a state, but
it failed to pass, as have subsequent calls for D.C.
statehood.





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