Norton: D.C. Voting Rights 'Inevitable' by Next Year
Obama, Biden supported last bill
By JIM IOVINO
Updated 8:10 AM EST, Fri, Nov 14, 2008
With Barack Obama heading to the White House, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton feels good about her chances of finally winning the fight to get voting rights for the District.
"The election has made it all but inevitable," Norton told the Washington Times.
After all these years, why is Norton so sure now?
Norton estimated that 65 senators favor the idea of giving voting rights to D.C., which she will ask for in her Voting Rights Act of 2009, the Times reported.
"I will seek the earliest vote in both the House and Senate," Norton said the day after Obama won the election. "The vote for D.C. residents should have been granted 209 years ago as the framers of the Constitution intended. Two centuries of waiting has been disgraceful. We must insist on no more delay, particularly now that we have the votes."
Norton's attempt last year failed. The bill passed the House, but failed to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate.
By her estimates, new Democratic senators elected to replace Republicans could push the bill through. And once it does, she has a friend in the White House to sign off on it.
Both Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden supported the last voting rights bill.
And that's not all.
Norton told the Times that Obama personally told her he would sign a voting rights bill if it reached his desk.
First Published: Nov 14, 2008 8:06 AM EST
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