Question

Use the passage to answer the question.

The residents of Washington, DC are pay the highest per capita federal taxes in the entire United States. Yet, they are not allowed voting representation in the U.S. Congress. Taxation without representation is wrong—in fact, it was the main issue that led the American colonies to fight for their independence. Washington, DC should receive statehood and the same representation as any other state.
A student is developing a counterclaim to this argument. Which evidence would be most helpful in developing a fair and effective counterclaim?

(1 point)

Residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and other U.S. territories are not allowed voting representation in the U.S. Congress either.

As the capital of the United States, Washington, DC was never meant to be a state because the founding fathers feared its people would have too much influence.

In a recent national poll, nearly 80 percent of one major party's voters said that they would not support making Washington, DC a state.

The Twenty-Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted Washington, DC residents the right to vote in all presidential elections and the electoral college.

Answer 1

Answer: "As the capital of the United States, Washington, DC was never meant to be a state because the founding fathers feared its people would have too much influence."

Why: This evidence directly supports a reasoned counterclaim—that the Constitution and the founders intentionally created a federal district rather than a state, so denying statehood reflects founding design rather than unfair taxation. The other choices either point to unrelated cases, focus on partisan opinion, or only address presidential (not congressional) voting rights and are weaker as a principled counterargument.