MORE 2:28 p.m.: D.C. Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka just returned our call, and takes issue with our characterization that the D.C. House Voting Rights Act is “dead.”

“We’re going to get this done, the question is when,” Zherka said.

“We’ve got the time and we’ve got the votes. Any timeline is artificial, and it was artificial from the start,” he said.

Despite today’s setback, Zherka said DC Vote is committed to the bill in its current form, and has no plans to abandon the bi-partisan, Utah-involved compromise legislation that’s already passed the Senate. Under the current bill, Utah would get a seat only until the 2010 Census, which does seem to indicate that time is of the essence for Utah to still care about their part of this legislation.

The voting rights group may be not thinking about a different bill, but they are refocusing their strategy on “fighting for local democracy,” or in other words, lobbying against the Ensign amendment and other such interference in local matters from Congress.

Here’s the statement released by leading voting rights non-profit DC Vote upon hearing the news that Steny Hoyer and Eleanor Holmes Norton appear to have delivered a death blow to the D.C. House Voting Rights Act.

“The fight is far from over,” said Ilir Zherka, DC Vote Executive Director. “We will do everything in our power to pass the DC Voting Rights Act in this Congress. But, it’s obvious that we’ll also need to take our battle on guns to the next level. Unfortunately we know that the NRA will continue to find a vehicle for the Ensign amendment and we will fight this at every step.”

Zherka noted that DC Vote has recently revamped its mission to include fighting for not only full congressional representation, but “full democracy.”

“We have always engaged in local Home Rule issues,” said Zherka. “But now we are empowered to use more of our resources to defeat the gun amendment.”

He emphasized that the organization will continue its fight to get the DC voting rights bill passed. Majority Leader Hoyer also stated his commitment to the legislation. He told reporters that he “will not give up on this bill.”

“We are so grateful for Majority Leader Hoyer’s commitment to this issue,” Zherka added. “We are confident that with the continued support of the House Leadership, that the DC Voting Rights Act will pass in the 111th Congress.”

This version of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, which would grant a single voting member both to D.C. and, temporarily, to Utah, already failed in two consecutive Congresses.

UPDATE 2:37 p.m. Here’s D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray’s statement:

I am disappointed at the news that House of Representatives action on D.C. voting rights legislation has been postponed indefinitely. We began this year with a high level of enthusiasm and optimism that the time finally had arrived when the D.C. taxpayers would get a full vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, a step toward full enfranchisement. By the same token, the onerous and dangerous nature of the Ensign amendment, which would remove major provisions of the District’s gun control legislation and most importantly eliminate the authority of the Council to legislate in this area in the future, perhaps makes this delay a necessary step for now. We will continue our efforts to enfranchise the citizens of the District of Columbia while not having to pay that heavy price.

The Council is deeply appreciative of the efforts by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, our Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and voting rights advocates, who devoted an enormous amount of time and energy to securing the vote for D.C. We remain hopeful that the right set of circumstances will lead to another opportunity for democracy finally to come to our city.

UPDATE 5:02 p.m. Aaaand At-large D.C. Council member Kwame Brown:

Those who say voting rights is dead issue have stopped believing. We are bound by the forces of history and justice to succeed. We will not be deterred by the discriminate acts of a few who would hold democracy hostage at the barrel of a gun. I stand by DC Vote, my colleagues and the residents as we continue our march toward progress. I want thank to Congresswoman Norton and Majority Leader Hoyer for their steadfast commitment to seeing this through.