The November 8 ballot in the District of Columbia will ask voters if they wish D.C. to become a state. The measure was put on the ballot by the City Council. It proposes splitting D.C. into two areas, one that would include the bulk of the city (which would become the state), and then a smaller federal district that would include important national government buildings and would not be part of the proposed state.
Some proponents of statehood oppose the measure because it seems to give too much power to the city council to draft a proposed constitution for the proposed state.
Each REAL State continues to be a NATION-State. See Art. VII and Art. I, Sec. 10.
1787 folks did NOT trust any State to have the USA Capitol for obvious reasons — nonstop conflicting laws.
Thus – Uniform definition of Elector.
D.C. voters would vote for gerrymander Congress folks.
Between all the territories and the federal district, I think only Guam has a realistic chance of becoming a state. While support for statehood might be high in DC, there are significant constitutional issues that prevent it from becoming a state. Of the territories, only the people of Guam poll heavily in favor of statehood.
What constitutional issues? DC was established by a 1790 act of Congress, not by the Constitution. Anyway, this proposal would not put the federal government on state land. As Richard correctly summarized, it would effectively reduce the size of the federal district to just the land including the important federal buildings. The rest of the land would become a new state. The new district would be no more dependent on the new state than the current district is on Virginia or Maryland.
Washington DC has a population of over 650,000. It has more people than either Wyoming or Vermont. Yet its voters have no voting Members of Congress, and its autonomy is routinely run roughshod over by the Members of Congress from other states. That is unconscionable.
I don’t know if the measure on the ballot is the best proposal or not, but it is the one that will be on the ballot. I will be voting in favor.
DC is too small – in land area – to be a state. The Virginia side of DC was returned to VA. The MD side should now be returned to Maryland – minus the small Federal district mentioned.
However, Peurto Rico should be made the 51st state.
Puerto Rico is a basket case. Give it independence except for military matters. Let Maryland represent D.C. Give statehood to Guam. They earned it because of their World War II experience.
The colonies in the Pacific Ocean can be obviously merged with Hawaii.
The colonies in the Atlantic Ocean can be obviously merged with Florida — along with some MAJOR problems of more and more ILLEGAL invaders (aka so called undocumented immigrants).
—
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
Is this a binding or non-binding vote?
Given the distances, in some cases thousands of miles, I doubt it will happen.
The constitutional issue regarding Washington, D.C. becoming a state is the 23rd Amendment.
If they split the district into the residential area to become a state and a federal district which would not become a state, the 23rd Amendment would have to be repealed. Otherwise, the federal district would get an additional 3 electoral votes on its own.
Maryland’s grant of the territory in the district is conditional on it being the national capital.
Rotate the meeting place of Congress on an annual basis. When they met in New York and Philadelphia, New York state and Pennsylvania didn’t have to relinquish their sovereignty over the meeting place.
Move the executive offices out of the Washington area, and decentralize them. The Pentagon would stay in Virginia. The president could move between seasonal residences, which could change every few years.
The Supreme Court could meet in the various circuit courts.
The mall area including the former capitol and presidential residence could be made a national historical park.
The 23rd Amendment presumes that there is a district constituting the seat of government. It also gives Congress the authority to determine the manner of appointing electors. Congress could decline to appoint any members – which is appropriate if there is no capital district. The 12th Amendment already adjusts for the non-appointment of electors.
Let the state part become part of Maryland. Also what is the wording of the ballot measure?
Let DC elect representatives, but no Senators, because it has resident citizens, but is not a state. Also, let residents of US territories, and US citizens and military members abroad who are not residents of any state to vote for DC representatives and electors.
Wouldn’t this require a repeal of the 23rd Amendment, or else the Federal District would still get three electoral votes in spite of having no residents? Well, I suppose the President and his family could register to vote at the White House, and then they’d get three votes just for themselves, but it would still need to be repealed since that would be ridiculous.
Ah, ninja’d by Joshua.