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DC Voting Rights

More than half a million residents of our nation's capital are without voting representation in Congress. This means that when issues affecting them are raised -- ranging from health care to education to the city's budget -- they have no one to represent their interests. As DC license plates say, this is taxation without representation.  It is time that the country that claims to lead the free world ends the disenfranchisement of its own people.  Public Citizen is a member of a DC Voting Rights coalition: DC Vote. Together, we are fighting to give DC residents a voice in Congress.

Right now there is good news on this front! The DC Voting Rights Act (H.R. 1905) passed in the House, 241-177. The bill will give DC one voting representative in the House, and add a fourth representative to Utah's delegation.

The Senate version of the bill, S. 1257, passed out of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in a bipartisan 9-to-1 vote. However, when it was brought to the floor in September, the it failed to pass the cloture vote by 3 votes. Read the Leadership Conference on Civil Right's letter in support of S. 1257.

Tell your Senators to do the right thing and pass the DC Voting Rights Act. To get the latest, visit our Watchdog Blog. You also will find a wealth of information on DC Voting Rights and what you can do to help on our coalition website: DC Vote. Nothing less than the integrity of our democracy is at stake. Help us return this fundamental right to vote to DC citizens. 

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