Washington Primary Spotlights D.C......

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Washington Primary Spotlights D.C......
3
Sun, 01-11-2004 - 1:46pm

Voting Rights.


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4107006


The District of Columbia holds an early, non-binding presidential primary this week intended mainly to publicize the fact that residents of the U.S. capital have no vote in Congress.


By moving up the ballot to Jan. 13 from its customary spot in May, District officials hope to garner some of the national attention normally reserved for the New Hampshire primary, which has a time-honored tradition of being the first in the nation and is scheduled this year for Jan. 27.

"It's gotten a huge amount of coverage, which is what the intent was," said City Council Member Jack Evans, an architect of the change. "The fact that we're pulling it off at all is a victory."

The district's plan to move up its primary ran into early problems with national Democratic Party leaders, who said it violated party rules. A compromise was finally worked out making the ballot non-binding, but five of the nine Democratic presidential candidates have opted out.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the Democratic front-runner was campaigning in New Hampshire on Friday and skipped the primary's only debate, but has kept his name on the ballot.

Along with Dean, civil rights activist Al Sharpton, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich are the only major candidates who will contest the D.C primary. They all support congressional voting rights for Washington.

Pundits expect Dean to win handily in the majority black city despite the two prominent black candidates on the ballot -- Braun and Sharpton.

Some critics, including Washington's small Republican Committee, say the primary is meaningless given the low candidate participation and its non-binding status.

But its supporters insist the ballot is important for Washington's disenfranchised residents, who pay federal taxes.

"For D.C. residents there is much more at stake ... than choosing a presidential nominee," said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the sole congressional representative for the district. Norton, who serves in the House of Representatives, can vote on legislation before House committees, but cannot vote on the House floor.

"Everyone who votes on Tuesday will be making a personal statement about the urgency of congressional voting rights while the nation is focused on our primary."

Washington does not have full voting rights in Congress because it is a federal enclave, which is neither a state nor part of a state.

A 1961 constitutional amendment gave Washington residents the right to vote in presidential elections.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2003
Mon, 01-12-2004 - 1:17am
The movement has been getting bigger and more organized lately, but I don't think it will change anything, though this latest action (the primary) should yield interesting results.

And just about every DC resident has a 'taxation without representation' license plate (even, for a while, the presidential limo, courtesy of Clinton's last days in office).

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Mon, 01-12-2004 - 9:55am
The Rev. Sharpton was on Crossfire last week eloquently speaking out about it & stating he was helping to organize support.

cl-Libraone





 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 01-14-2004 - 9:22am

Dean first, Sharpton second in D.C. voting.


Howard Dean won the first vote of the 2004 presidential campaign season on Tuesday, although it was more of a voting rights rally than a chance to express a preference for a candidate.


Dean, the former Vermont governor, got 43 percent of the votes, followed by Al Sharpton with 34 percent, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun with 12 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, with 8 percent.


More...........


http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/13/elec04.prez.dc.primary.ap/index.html

cl-Libraone





 


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