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DC Voting Rights: Closer than Ever

For a time, 2007 seemed to be the year that voting representation for the District of Columbia would become a reality.

The D.C. Voting Rights Act passed the House of Representatives in April (241-177). But it was defeated in the Senate in September, despite garnering more support — 57 senators voted for it — than ever before.

The bill would have raised House membership to 437 members by giving the District of Columbia one seat and an additional seat to Utah, a state that was short-changed in the 2001 reapportionment.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D. D.C., and Rep. Thomas M. Davis, R.Va., co-sponsored the bipartisan bill in the House. Reps. Norton and Davis had originally hoped for 2006 passage in Congress, but the House leadership failed to bring it to the floor. With a change in leadership, supporters were optimistic for 2007…

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