DC Voting Rights are UNCONSTITUTIONAL

This is quite simple, the Constitution of the United States (aka the Supreme Law of the Land) states:

"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature."

The District of Columbia is not a State, nor is it a part of a State. James Madison expounded the need for a federal district on January 23, 1788, in his "Federalist No. 43", section #2, arguing that the national capital needed to be distinct from the states in order to provide for its own maintenance and safety.

The problem of the "disenfranchisement" of District residents is not new (although, I would argue that no one there has been disenfranchised--those born there have never had representation in Congress and those who move there do so on their own accord), ever since the "Organic Act of 1801" which officially ceded the land to the federal government and disenfranchising the residents of the District, there have been efforts to remedy this. Most efforts revolve around "retrocession".

The City of Alexandria used to be the southern county of the District, but was retroceded to Virginia after the people of the city began to request that Virginia ask for the territory back in the 1840s. In February 1846, the Virginia General Assembly officially agreed to accept retrocession if approved by Congress and in July, the Congress retroceded the land south of the Potomac back to Virginia.

In my opinion, it makes sense to retrocede the majority of the District back to Maryland with the exception of the Federal Triangle, the Mall, and the Navy Yard. These areas have no residences (with the exception of the White House--and the President and his family retain their citizenship in their home State). The problem is that Maryland does not want to do this. Without Maryland's cooperation, this will not happen.

So that leaves three options (at least if one believes that the Constitution matters).

The first, make Washington a State (New Columbia?)...this is not an easy or clear process. There are several portential problems...
Statehood usually comes from territories or colonies petitioning to become a State; however, DC is not a territory, nor is it a colony, nor is it an area which could be annexed. Second, the land was ceded by Maryland for a particular purpose, so there may be legal ramifications in this pertaining to the territory if it is no longer to be used for this purpose. Regardless, there would need to remain a portion of the area as a Federal District as mentioned above.

The second, amend the Constitution.
Unlikely to be ratified though. You need the support of 2/3 of both houses of Congress to propose the amendment (or 2/3 of the States to call a Constitutional Convention). This is unlikely since New Columbia would be extremely supportive of the Democrat Party...you will never get 290 votes in the house nor 67 votes in the Senate for the amendment. Neither would 34 States call to convene a Constitutional Convention for this purpose (can you imagine the likes of Senators Clinton, Kennedy, and Byrd attempting to write a new Constitution--we have no Madison, no Franklin, no Washington, et al in our midst). Even on the off chance that such an amendment could be proposed, there is no way 38 States would ratify it as it weakens their power.

The third and most likely option is the restoration of voting rights by Congressional act. In 2004, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher [R-CA] proposed the "District of Columbia Voting Rights Restoration Act" (H.R. 3709). This act would have treated the residents of the District as residents of Maryland for the purposes of Congressional representation. Maryland's congressional delegation would then be apportioned accordingly to include the population of the District. At first blush, this seems un-Constitutional as well; however, from the foundation of the District in 1790 until the passage of the Organic Act of 1801, citizens living in D.C. continued to vote for members of Congress in Maryland or Virginia; legal scholars therefore propose that the Congress has the power to restore those voting rights while maintaining the integrity of the federal district.

This seems simple enough, doesn't it?