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Introduced to Congress
Senator Henry Blair of New Hampshire brought forth the bill to amend the constitution. Senator Henry Blair was wanted to give Washington D.C. the right to have electors. Many of the Congress people did not agree that the Constitution needed to be amended, so Senator Henry's bill was turned down. -
23 Amendment introduced again
The 23rd Amendment was proposed to Congress again on June 17th 1959 but this time by Estes Kefauver. Estes Kefauver was the Senator of Tennessee and he was a Democrat.The Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy supported the proposal. This amendment was the second fastest amendment to get ratified.
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The Bill Moves On
The Senate passed the 23 amamdenmet bill after amdening it three times. By a vote of 70 to 18 the bill passed and was sent to the House of Representatives. -
The Bill at the House
The 23 Amendment bill was adopted into the House of Representatives on June 14, 1960. This was done by a voice vote. -
State Rejection
The Amendment was rejected by the state for Arkansa on January 24, 1961. There was also nine other states who took no part in this amendment. The other nine states were Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texa, North Carolina, and Virginia. -
Iowa Ratifies 23rd Amendment
Iowa was the 33rd state to ratify the Amendment right after the state of Vermont. -
23 Amendment was ratified
The ratification process was completed on March 20, 1961. The whole process took nine months and twelve days after it was proposed by congress. The 23rd Amendment was added to the constitution. This Amendment was important because it gave the District of Columbia the right to have three electoral votes. Which means that D.C. now had a say in who they would like to be president.
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President Election
The very first presidential election the the District of Columbia was able to participate in was the 1964 election. Presidents and Vice Presidents are not elected by the voters throughout the United States. They are elected by people who are called electors. Electores are people who are chosen by a popular vote by their state. Since District of Columbia is not a state they were not able to have any electors.
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D.C. Gets their Own Goverment
With the 23 Amendment put in place it allows D.C. to get their own government. This type of government was a bicameral legislature. -
Alabama
Alabama was the very last state to ratify the 23 AMendment.
