Via Free Ride, which is running a photo we’re totally envious of depicting Mayor Adrian Fenty with a mile-wide grin and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton with what can only be described as a growl-like expression at Tuesday’s Senate hearing on the D.C. Voting Rights Act, it’s worth clarifying a change to the Senate version of bill for the sake of the ongoing conversation we’ve been having about its constitutionality.

According to this morning’s Roll Call, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the bill’s other co-sponsor, made a significant change to the legislation in an effort to avoid a potential constitutional thorn. As designed, D.C.’s potential vote on Capitol Hill is tied to Utah getting a new congressional district, as it nearly missed the reapportionment cut in the 2000 U.S. Census. In the House version of the bill, an at-large seat would be given to Utah, which would avoid redistricting before the 2010 Census. But Hatch was concerned with the constitutionality of allowing Utah residents to be represented by two House members, so the bill was amended to mandate a redrawn congressional map for the Beehive State, which state legislators approved in a special session last year.

The legality of creating an “at-large” House seat for Utah has been a sticking point for many of the bill’s detractors, so this change does seem like a wise move. Of course the far stickier point is the interpretation of the “several states” language vs. the implications of the District Clause. In the meantime, the bill’s supporters are in a race to try to persuade enough Republican senators to vote for the bill to avoid a fillibuster. It seems unlikely this one change could be enough to coax any of them into supporting the bill, but it’s certainly worth a shot.

Photo by MatthewBradley