This is one of the places where intent of the founders becomes tricky to parse. Did they envisage a District of Columbia large enough to need a representative? Doubtful. Would they have been willing to allow hundreds of thousands of mostly African-American citizens to be permanently disenfranchised? Er, yes…
I wonder if the 14th Amendment doesn’t play a role here as well.
Questions over the constitutionality of a D.C. voting bill have dogged the proposal throughout its journey through Congress. Some legal experts say that because the District is not a state, the proposal does not square with a constitutional requirement that House members be chosen “every second year by the people of the several states.” Others argue that the Constitution gives Congress broad power over the District, including the ability to grant it a full House seat.
via Some in Justice Department See D.C. Vote in House as Unconstitutional – washingtonpost.com.
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