<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Twenty - third Amendment (Amendment XXIII) to the United States Constitution extends the right to vote in the presidential election to citizens residing in the District of Columbia by granting the District electors in the Electoral College, as if it was a state . The amendment was proposed by the 86th Congress on June 16, 1960 . Ratification by the requisite 38 of the 50 states was completed on March 29, 1961 . </P> <P> The Electoral College, established in Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, is the institution that elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years . The President and Vice President are not elected directly by the voters . Instead, they are elected by "electors" who are chosen by popular vote on a state - by - state basis . As the District of Columbia is not a state, it was not entitled to any electors prior to the adoption of the Twenty - third Amendment . Citizens living in the district were, therefore, shut out from the presidential--vice presidential election process . The first presidential election in which the District of Columbia participated was the election of 1964 . This amendment mentions the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution when it mentions how the district's electors should perform duties provided by said amendment . </P>

What was the purpose of the 23 amendment to the constitution
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