Final answer:
The Twenty Third Amendment in 1964 allowed the residents of Washington D.C. to vote for President and Vice President by granting the District three electors in the Electoral College. Efforts have been proposed to provide D.C. with full congressional representation, and the U.S. Supreme Court has reinforced the federal right to vote through the 14th Amendment and other constitutional protections.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the voting rights of residents in Washington D.C., specifically how they were granted the ability to vote for President and Vice President. Initially, the District of Columbia was created as a separate entity to host the nation's capital without granting its residents voting rights in federal elections.
It was not until the passage of the Twenty Third Amendment in 1964 that citizens living in Washington D.C. were allowed to participate in the Electoral College with three electors, equivalent to the least populous state. Furthermore, there have been efforts through proposed amendments to provide full congressional representation to the District as if it were a state.
To understand this change, we look at the U.S. Supreme Court's involvement in recognizing the federal right to vote in congressional elections due to the 'chosen by the people of the several States' in Article I, Section 2 and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. This action ensures one person's vote is as valuable as another's in congressional districts.
Voting rights have been further protected against poll taxes by the United States Constitution, ensuring that citizens' ability to vote in primary or other federal elections is not contingent upon the payment of any tax. These protections and rights apply only to U.S. citizens, the authorized electorate for Federal elections.