Presidential electors for the District of Columbia
Official text rightpowerlimitif conditionlegal term
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of 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 appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Proposal and ratification: This amendment was proposed by the Eighty-sixth Congress on June 17, 1960 and was declared by the Administrator of General Services on April 3, 1961, to have been ratified by 38 of the 50 States. was completed on March 29, 1961.
Simplified explanation
The seat of Government of the United States appoints, as Congress directs, electors for President and Vice President equal to the Senators and Representatives it would have if a State, but no more than the least populous State.