DC Residents Will Vote on Statehood on Election Day

WASHINGTON, DC — It's not exactly an overnight process, but D.C. residents will get a say on statehood when they go to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 8.

Washington, D.C. officials have long been waging an oft-ignored campaign to get representation rights for the citizens of the District, who suffer from "taxation without representation" due to their special status in the union. On Election Day, D.C. residents will vote on its first referendum for becoming the 51st state in the country, but even if it passes it faces a long and seemingly impossible uphill battle.

Republicans oppose D.C. statehood because it is a heavily Democratic city that, if made a state, would provide two U.S. senators and a congressperson who would be guaranteed Democrats every election. That means any proposal to make D.C. a state would face fierce opposition from the Republican Party.

Another proposal includes having D.C. be absorbed into the state of Maryland, so that way there wouldn't be any additional U.S. senators but D.C. residents would still be represented.

http://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/dc-residents-will-vote-statehood-election-day