The Constitutional Amendments

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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article using appropriate legislation."

This amendment was ratified in 1961 to give the District of Columbia the power to choose electors in order to be represented in Congress and in elections.

Section 1 lays out the guidelines of the method of selection of the number of electors for the District of Columbia. It states that the number electors granted to the District of Columbia would be equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress that the District would have were it a state. However, in no event shall the district have more electors than the least populous State. These electors will be in excess of those appointed by the states, but shall act as though appointed by a state during the elections of President and Vice-President, and during such elections, they shall meet in the District of Columbia in order to perform the duties laid out in the Twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2 gives the executive power of enforcement to the Congress by using appropriate legislation.
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