ELECTIONS 2016 - RESULTS AND MORE D.C. Voters Favor Statehood, But Battle Just Beginning By Tatyana Hopkins WI Contributing Writer D.C. voters want Congress to make it the 51st state in the union. Nearly 90 percent of D.C. voters favored the statehood referendum on the ballot Tuesday. In addition to the president, D.C. residents also voted for local offices, U.S. delegation, and the infamous statehood referendum. The political movement for D.C. statehood has seem many fruitless attempts, most recently in 1982 when a resident-approved bid went largely ignored by Congress. In unofficial poll reports, 86 percent of voters approved the referendum that asked voters whether the D.C. Council "should petition Congress to enact a statehood admission act to admit the State of New Columbia to the Union." Residents voted on a recently drafted constitution for the proposed state, newly redrawn borders, and whether District officials should push Congress to act on their petition for statehood. Fourteen percent of voters rejected the measure. When statehood was last on the ballot in 1982, it was approved by voters with a slimmer margin with 53 percent in favor and 47 percent against. ​Though residents have expressed their favor for the statehood referendum, statehood is not guaranteed. Congress must approve the measure, which D.C. leaders said they will champion in January to the new president and Congress. Having the voter-approved constitution is an important part of getting Congress to pass the measure. There are several paths to gaining statehood for D.C. The city could become a state by an amendment of the U.S. Constitution or having Congress pass a bill granting the District statehood. Both methods have been tried in the past, but staunch statehood advocate Mayor Muriel Bowser settled on a method that gained statehood for Tennessee. In 1795, Tennessee drafted a constitution and held a referendum on whether it should ask Congress for admission to the union as a state. Congress approved the request and
made Tennessee the nation's 16th state. Bowser said the Tennessee Plan is more proactive than waiting for Congress to debate the issue and vote on a bill to make D.C. a state and less difficult than trying to amend the Constitution. The referendum's objective was to demonstrate to Congress the breadth of support D.C. residents have for statehood. But even the voter approval leaves the city a long way from statehood, as city officials will now have to take the battle to Capitol Hill. According to the most recent reports and data with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, the Statehood Yes! Committee has spent a large portion of its funds. Through October 31, the committee raised over $60,000 and had over $45,000 in expenditures. Many Republicans have spoken against the bid for D.C. statehood, and many Democrats, even those who offered support for the cause, see it as low-priority issue. Though D.C. residents pay federal taxes and fight in the military, they only have one representative in Congress without voting power and no senators. The city currently falls under the direct jurisdiction of Congress. WI
5Ward 8 voters show up late in the evening to cast their votes for D.C. Statehood at Patterson Elementary School on Tuesday, November 8 in Southeast. / Photo by Roy Lewis
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5Team Charlotte, consisting of a group of Howard University Students monitoring the polls during the 2016 presidential election stand in front of the Guilford County Democratic Party office. / Photo courtesy of Howard News Service
HU Students Travel to Monitor Polls By Tatyana Hopkins WI Contributing Writer Howard University students headed to Cleveland and Charlotte, North Carolina, to monitor the polls for the 2016 presidential election. Eighteen graduate and undergraduate Howard students and two fellows from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation traveled Sunday to the two cities and headed home Tuesday after the polls closed as part of the Howard University Graduate Political Science Association (HUGPSA) 2016 Presidential General Election Voter Protection Project (VP2). HUGPSA is a student organization at the university in which graduate students seek to offer solutions to various societal issues such issues in education, cultural, economic, civil rights, and political activism. The Office of the President, the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center, Office of Student Affairs, and the Department of Political Science also served as partners of the Voter Protection Project. The project's purpose was to examine and expose systemic barriers to voting at the state and local level of government. Twelve students went to North Carolina and six went to Ohio for the project. "These states do have a history of suppression of the black vote," said Gabrielle Gray, President of HUGPSA. "The Howard University Graduate Political Science
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"These states do have a history of suppression of the black vote." Gabrielle Gray / President, HUGPSA
Association has launched a Voter Protection Project that aims to increase electoral participation of millennial voters, and to combat voter suppression in black communities across the nation. "Here at Howard University and at other HBCUs across the country, we have a legacy of standing at the forefront of human and civil rights struggles," said Gray, who led the project in Cleveland. "With the Voter Protection Project, we are acting on the legacy of our ancestors, and working hard to defend the voting rights of our people." While in Cleveland and Char-
lotte, students monitored polls, engaged in community outreach and neighborhood canvassing, and gathered data on voter impressions regarding the African-American voting experience. Students also remained on campus to assist with the 2016 election Command Center being operated at Howard. "Our job is to make sure voters are not being intimated at the polls, that they feel protected, and that they are able to exercise their right to vote," said Naya Young, one of the graduate student organizers and leader of the Charlotte trip. "This is a significant time in our lives and we're making sure students are a part of it. "I was excited to that so many young people were out voting," Young said. "Many people were worried that wouldn't." One student participant, Arfie Ghedi, said though many of the Ohio residents the group came across seemed reluctant to speak with them, many reported a good voting experience." "The area seemed to be oversaturated with canvassers because it's a swing state," the sophomore journalism major said. "A lot of people turned us away, but it seemed worth it when I did get to talk to people. We had good conversations." Neither group reported instances of outward voter suppression or intimidation at the polls. They will write a report on their findings in January. WI
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