User:VoterAnne/League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia

The League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia was established in April, 1920, and called themselves "the Voteless League Of Women Voters" because the people of DC had no vote in Congress, nor even any local government at the time. The DC League is a chapter of the League of Women Voters of the United States, which is a "nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government." The League of Women Voters has supported full rights for DC since 1938 and has been active in advocating for increased self-government and full representation in Congress.

The DC League was involved in the passage of the 23rd Amendment that allowed DC citizens to vote for president in 1964 for the first time since 1801. They were fully engaged in the fight to gain Home Rule in the 1970s, and backed the effort to pass the DC Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment in 1978.

The League continued to press for full rights for DC citizens even after the failure of the states to pass the DC Voting Rights Amendment by the state legislatures. They provided a study on statehood for DC in the early 90s, with the result that the DC League came to consensus that statehood was a way of gaining full representation in Congress and local self government. Many of the members of the League supported the first vote in Congress on a DC statehood bill on November 22, 1993, which failed 277-153. In 1998 they were instrumental in establishing the coalition that eventually became the current organization, DC Vote. Law suits were filed, and an effort to give the DC non-voting delegate a vote in Congress along with an additional representative from Utah eventually failed. Since that time the DC League has focused its attention on educating people around the country about DC Statehood. As of last year their team of speakers had visited 30 states to educate people about DC Statehood.

The In 2020 they published a booklet celebrating their Centennial entitled 100 Years of Marching for Full Rights for DC Citizens. DC League currently has a DC Statehood page on their website (www.lwvdc.org) and several videos about DC Statehood on their YouTube Channel.