Washington D.C. has a population of around 600,000, making it larger in than the state of Wyoming, but all the same, for most of its history it had no representation in Congress. Technically, at least for purposes of enfranchisement, D.C. is not a state — it was founded in 1791 as a federal district housing the capital. That led to a curious duality, where D.C. is considered a state in matters of interstate commerce, but not in representation. In fact it took a constitutional amendment to get D.C. to count even in presidential elections.

On this day, November 3, in 1964, after passage of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution that allowed district residents to vote in presidential elections, Washington D.C. for the first time cast its vote.

Efforts at Congressional representation for D.C. have been considerably less successful. A bill was introduced in 1978, but never came to a vote. In part, Congress fears the addition of representatives from D.C., believing a new stream would upset a carefully cultivated balance worked out between the Democrats and Republicans.