United States presidential elections in the District of Columbia explained
| District: | the District of Columbia |
| Number Of Elections: | 15 |
| Voted Democratic: | 15 |
| Voted Republican: | 0 |
| Voted Other: | 0 |
| Voted Winning: | 7 |
| Voted Losing: | 8 |
Since the enactment of the 23rd amendment to the Constitution in 1961,[1] the District of Columbia has participated in 15 presidential elections. The amendment states that it cannot have more electoral votes than the state with the smallest number of electors.[2] Since then, it has been allocated three electoral votes in every presidential election.[3] The Democratic Party has immense political strength in the district. In each of the 15 presidential elections, the district has overwhelmingly voted for the Democratic candidate, with no margin less than 56.5 percentage points. It has been won by the losing candidate in 8 of the 15 elections.
In the 2000 presidential election, Barbara Lett-Simmons, an elector from the district, left her ballot blank to protest its lack of voting representation in Congress. As a result, Al Gore received only two of the three electoral votes from Washington, D.C.[4] In 2016, 85.7% of the registered voters approved a statehood referendum.[5] In recent times, there have been various statehood movements in the District of Columbia, which advocates making the district a state.[6] [7]
The district is a signatory of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate compact in which signatories award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the national-level popular vote in a presidential election, even if another candidate won an individual signatory's popular vote. it has not yet gone into force.[8]
Presidential elections
Year! scope="col" style="border-left:3px solid darkgray;" colspan="4" | Winner | Runner-up | Other candidate | | |
|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|
| | | 169,796 | | | | 28,801 | | | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 139,566 | | | | 31,012 | | | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 127,627 | | | | 35,226 | | | | 316 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 137,818 | | | | 27,873 | | | | 545 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 130,231 | | | | 23,313 | | | | 16,131 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 180,408 | | | | 29,009 | | | | 279 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 159,407 | | | | 27,590 | | | | 2,901 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 192,619 | | | | 20,698 | | | | 9,681 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 158,220 | | | | 17,339 | | | | 4,780 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 171,923 | | | | 18,073 | | | | 10,576 | | 2 | |
|---|
| | | 202,970 | | | | 21,256 | | | | 1,485 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 245,800 | | | | 17,367 | | | | 1,138 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 267,070 | | | | 21,381 | | | | 2,458 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 282,830 | | | | 12,723 | | | | 4,906 | | 3 | |
|---|
| | | 317,323 | | | | 18,586 | | | | 2,036 | | 3 | | |
|---|
Graph
The following graph shows the margin of victory of the Democratic Party over the Republican Party in the 15 presidential elections the District of Columbia participated.
See also
Works cited
Notes and References
- Web site: Presidential Vote for D.C.. live. August 7, 2021. National Constitution Center. July 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210718230432/https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xxiii.
- Web site: Presidential electors for D.C.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201222080625/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CONAN-2002/pdf/GPO-CONAN-2002-9-24.pdf. December 22, 2020. August 7, 2021. United States Government Publishing Office.
- Web site: Distribution of Electoral Votes. live. August 7, 2021. National Archives and Records Administration. 19 September 2019. 10 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201210024436/https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/allocation.
- News: Stout. David. December 19, 2000. The 43rd President, The Electoral College: The Electors Vote, and the Surprises Are Few. The New York Times. limited. August 7, 2021. March 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308150151/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/19/us/43rd-president-electoral-college-electors-vote-surprises-are-few.html. live.
- News: November 7, 2016. DC Voters Elect Gray to Council, Approve Statehood Measure. NBC News. September 21, 2021.
- News: Greve. Joan E.. May 3, 2021. 'Our moment is now': can Washington DC statehood finally become a reality?. The Guardian. live. August 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210801090532/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/03/washington-dc-statehood-51-stars. August 1, 2021.
- News: Flynn. Meagan. April 22, 2021. House Democrats pass D.C. statehood, launching bill into uncharted territory. The Washington Post. live. August 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210512170455/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-statehood-house-vote/2021/04/22/935a1ece-a1fa-11eb-a7ee-949c574a09ac_story.html. May 12, 2021.
- Web site: Status of National Popular Vote Bill in Each State . . 2022-12-27.
