DC Demands Voting Rights
Feature Story by Katie Drake - 4/17/2002
Washington, D.C. - As others were rushing to file their tax returns, a fire fueled by 1040 tax forms blazed in the street near Farragut Square where protesters decried their "taxation without representation." The rally, organized by DC Vote, a nonprofit organization advocating the voting rights of DC residents, drew a crowd of well over 100 supporters. They chanted, "Taxation without representation is tyranny" to the cheers and drums of the Ballou High School band.The rally in Farragut Square drew a wealth of distinguished speakers from Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) to DC Mayor Anthony Williams. The protesters cheered them loudly and waved signs with slogans such as "Paid my taxes, where's my vote?" and a mock license plate with, "Washington DC: Home of Taxation Without Representation."
The signs, shouts, and speakers protested the fact that residents of DC are required to pay federal income taxes but do not have any form of voting representation in the House of Representatives or the Senate. The only other residents of the United States who are lacking voting representation live in the various territories of the U.S.; as such, they are also exempted from paying income taxes.
Infuriated by this injustice, Congresswoman Norton fired up the crowd with a description of her testimony before Congress. On April 15, 2002, she appeared before Congress to have her appeal placed in the official record. She reminded her colleagues in the House of Representatives that the residents of DC have paid taxes and "want to be paid with voting representation."
Congresswoman Norton also reminded the protesters that DC residents have willingly fought and died for their country but "these lives given for our country are trivialized when the Congress remains unmoved by our just demand to remove taxation without representation."
While the debate over voting rights continues to rage in Congress, Norton is taking the fight for DC residents. Congresswoman Norton is a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives. While she is able to speak on the floor of the House and even present bills, she is unable to vote on any legislation. DC has absolutely no representation of any kind in the Senate. In addition, any laws passed locally with the mayor and city council are subject to approval by Congress. Using this right, Congress has frequently overturned the votes of the citizens of DC.
To remedy this situation, Congresswoman Norton has presented the No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2001 before the House of Representatives. She has found allies within the Senate in Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), and Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI). The bill proposes that DC residents have full voting representation in Congress or be exempt from federal income taxes until they gain this Constitutional right.
Opponents to the movement claim that the Constitution allows Congress complete control over Washington D.C. However, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution clearly states that all citizens deserve equal protection under the law. This equal protection extends to voting rights and should ensure that all citizens have full voting representation within Congress.
Congresswoman Norton and supporters have warned the Congress that they will not be ignored. They will be heading to the Hill on May 15th for the D.C. Citizens Lobby Day for Congressional Voting Rights. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams succinctly described the dire situation by saying the denial of voting rights is a "civil rights violation, it's a democratic violation, and it's a common sense violation."
