NYC Gazette

The New York City Council is poised to approve a measure that would allow up to 800,000 noncitizens living in the city to vote in municipal elections, a proposal that prompted harsh criticism from the editors of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the National Review (NR).

The measure not only violates the New York Constitution, but also the wishes of the Founding Fathers, including Alexander Hamilton, himself an immigrant, the National Review editors argue. The WSJ editors note that the argument that residents with green cards and work authorizations, those given the right to vote in the proposal, are paying taxes without representation “isn’t persuasive.”

“Nonresidents with second homes or apartments in the city pay property taxes, and they certainly have an interest in public services like police, fire and garbage collection,” the editors wrote. “International students live in New York, and they might pay taxes of all kinds, or at least sales taxes on whatever they buy. Does that mean they should get to vote in local races? The obvious answer is no.”

The city council’s approval of the measure -- a vote is scheduled Dec. 9 -- is a near certainty, the editors at both publications write. Both outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, and mayor-elect Eric Adams, are supportive of the measure. Adams will be sworn-in Jan. 1, 2022.

The new voters could have a massive influence on future city elections. Eric Adams, for instance, won the ranked-choice Democratic primary in June by only 7,197 votes.

“There are good reasons why Americans have traditionally limited the vote to citizens,” the NR editors write. “Citizenship is no mere formality, as anyone who has attended a citizenship ceremony can attest. It is a bond of right, responsibility and affection between the citizen and the nation.”

The editors also cite Hamilton’s view on noncitizens voting.  

“The impolicy of admitting foreigners to an immediate and unreserved participation in the right of suffrage, or in the sovereignty of a republic, is as much a received axiom as anything in the science of politics, and is verified by the experience of all ages,” Hamilton wrote.

In late September, the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed legal action against two Vermont towns, Montpelier and Winooski, over their granting noncitizens the right to vote in local elections.

The RNC called the amendments to the towns' charters, which allow noncitizens to vote, a “radical scheme passed by Vermont Democrats,” and alleges it violates the state’s constitution requiring Vermont voters to be U.S. citizens.

Allowing noncitizens to vote is trending across the nation. Nine Maryland cities allow it, as does the San Francisco Board of Education, according to the Pew Foundation, which said Washington D.C., Illinois and New York City are considering the practice.

Jack Tomczak, the national field director with Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV), says giving noncitizens voting rights sends the wrong message.

“What kind of message is this to those who have earned the right to vote by earning their citizenship?” Tomczak told the Green Mountain Times for an earlier story.