US Constitution Series, Amendment XXIII

Amendment XXIII. Presidential Electors for the District of Columbia

SEC. 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

This amendment gives the District of Columbia influence in the election for president and vice president out of proportion to its population. Why? It get three electors, as many as the smallest state. All states regardless of size get two electors plus electors equal to the number of representatitves (Article I, Section 1), a minimum of three. Thus mathematically, small states and the District of Columbia have electoral influence out of proportion to their size.