The Capital: Toward Voting Day

Everyone in Washington talks about politics, but no one in Washington can vote—unless he has an official residence elsewhere. Last year, capping a 160-year campaign for suffrage in the District of Columbia, Congress approved a proposed constitutional amendment to permit Washingtonians to vote in presidential elections. Last week Alaska, Colorado, West Virginia and Washington State all ratified the 23rd amendment, raising to 18 the number of states that have done so. If, as expected, the amendment is ratified by three-quarters of the states (or 38 in all), the District will cast three electoral votes in 1964.