About the D.C. Statehood Movement

Washington D.C is a Federal District of the United States government. Since its conception, issues of D.C. residents’ voting rights, representation, and governance have repeatedly arisen. D.C. statehood is a 220 year movement that has gone through long periods of stagnation followed by periods of high activity. Currently, we are at a peak in the interest and activity around statehood, as evidenced by several new bills and hearings in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, this topic is complicated by politics, racism, and inter-state power struggles. A piece of the statehood puzzle often unclear or missing from Federal documents is the work put into ratifying a constitution for use if D.C. is granted statehood. Most people are probably not aware that Washington, D.C. ratified a constitution in 1982 and 2016. Our project sheds light on a subject that is poorly understood outside of the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) and presents where D.C. Statehood stands today in comparison to 1987.