Norton Wants Fast Action on Voting Rights Legislation

By Martin Austermuhle
DCist
December 8, 2008

While some D.C. voting rights activists are debating whether to seek one voting seat in the House of Representatives or to go for full statehood, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is pushing full-steam ahead for a solution by early February.

As D.C. Wire reported on Friday, the District's non-voting representative has asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to fast-track legislation that would grant D.C. a voting seat in the House by February 12, the bicentennial anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. The same legislation narrowly died in the Senate last year.

Beyond the symbolism of such a move, Norton knows that anything but immediate action will likely doom the voting rights movement to a long wait as Congress works its way through bailing the country out of a recession and implementing President-elect Obama's ambitious agenda. It's not impossible, though - the House could quickly pass the legislation, and as we recently wrote, the numbers are finally there in the Senate.

Of course, opposition still exists to the measure. Jason Chaffetz, for one, thinks the whole thing is unconstitutional. Wait; who? Chaffetz is representative-elect for Utah's Third District, a seat formerly held by Rep. Chris Cannon. Where Cannon was a co-sponsor of the legislation (it would also grant Utah an additional seat in the House until the 2010 re-apportionment of seats), Chaffetz has long opposed the move. In a statement released today (PDF), Chaffetz, who has yet to be sworn into office, echoed what many House and Senate Republicans have argued -- granting the District a voting seat is unconstitutional and the only lasting solution is retrocession to Maryland. Hopefully the strength of Chaffetz's convictions will keep him warm while he sleeps on a cot in his office.

At the end of the day, a freshman congressman's complaints aren't likely to sway the Democratic majority in the House. This legislation has the numbers to pass, the question is really more when. Norton wants sooner rather than later; Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will have to make the final call.