by Sarah Hurd
USA

Like most Americans, I did not know that the District of Columbia, our nation’s capitol, does not have full voting rights. To make matters worse, the United States is the ONLY democratic country in the world that has such an arrangement (which is in direct violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Congress in 1992). This is one of the many reasons why the League of Women Voters has designated Washington D.C. Voting Rights as one of its priority issues this year, and is diligently working to educate and advocate on its behalf.

So what does this really mean? I can hear you ask. Plainly put, it means D.C. gets no votes in the Senate or the House. It also means that Congress has exclusive authority over D.C.’s local budget, and can annul laws it passes. Additionally, Washington D.C. does not have control over its local judiciary and prison systems; the President oversees them and appoints the judges.

At its core, the residents of our nation’s capitol live in a state of “taxation without representation.” They pay one of the highest per capita federal income taxes in the country, fight in America’s wars, serve on juries, and yet still do not have full voting representation.

by Sarah Hurd
USA

With the onset of March, Women’s History Month, I wonder how many people still don’t know. “Don’t know what?” you may ask. Answer: All the countless contributions women have made to get us to where we are today—or in other words, all the ways women have made history.

I certainly did not know growing up. In fact, I was clueless and I’m a 30-something woman with a staunch feminist mother. But really why would I?