Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called for a referendum on applying to Congress to make D.C. the 51st state. In doing so, she begins another chapter in the discussion about voting rights in the capital that has been going on almost since the creation of the republic.

The Constitution granted the federal government the right to create and govern a federal district, which they did in 1790. The city of Washington was incorporated in 1801, at which point its residents lost their state citizenship and, with it, their right to vote for Congress or for electors for president.