Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives (called either delegates or resident … See more

Territorial delegates existed before the ratification of the United States Constitution. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed for territory with "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age" to elect a non-voting delegate t… See more

Similar to delegates are resident commissioners, who represented the large areas acquired during the Spanish–American War, and for much of the 20th century were considered colonies, not territori… See more

In the mid-1960s, a number of small territories that had no prospects of becoming states began to petition for representation in Congress. Starting in 1970, the House of Representatives started to grant rep… See more

The Cherokee and Choctaw Native American tribes have treaty rights to send delegates to Congress. The right to a non-voting delegate to Congress was promised to the Cherokee by the Treaty of Hopewell in 1785 (affirmed i… See more

The positions of non-voting delegates are now a more or less permanent fixture of the House of Representatives, having been supported by legislation. However, this legislation stipulates that "...the right to vote in the com… See more