NYC Gazette

A conservative government watchdog group has filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court, charging that a newly enacted New York City law allowing 800,000 noncitizens to vote in municipal elections violates the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids deny voting rights based on race.

The Public Legal Interest Foundation (PILF) lawsuit follows one filed in January over the noncitizen voting law by a group of New York Republicans, alleging violations of the Constitution and state election laws.

The PILF is a conservative legal group based in Indianapolis.

J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. | PILF

The foundation alleged in a statement announcing the lawsuit that the New York City Council members who sponsored the legislation “made explicit statements evidencing the racial purpose of the law and engaged in conduct that demonstrated a racial purpose behind the proposal to allow foreign citizens to vote.”

The sponsors of the measure were aware that the racial composition of those noncitizens residing in the city were largely Asian and Hispanic, PILF President J. Christian Adams said in the statement.

“Sponsors of the foreigner voting bill were explicit that race motivated their legislation and not merely giving noncitizens the right to vote,” he said. “When election laws are passed with a racial motive, they violate the 15th Amendment and are invalid. The 15th Amendment prohibits any race-based voting restrictions. Legislators made statements that this was about race. This law violates the Constitution. We are confident the court will rule in our favor.”

The New York City Council approved the measure in December, and it became law in early January when new Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, allowed the veto period to expire.

In the case, PILF is representing four African-American New York City voters, Phyllis Coachman, Deroy Murdock, Katherine James and Anthony Gilhuys.

The suit by the group of Republicans was filed in January in Staten Island Supreme Court. It asks a judge to issue an injunction to prevent the city's Board of Elections from implementing the law due to its alleged unconstitutionality and its contravention of state law. 

“We vowed to use every legal tool in our arsenal to block this unconstitutional and un-American law, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy said in a statement when the lawsuit was filed. “The law is clear, and the ethics are even clearer. We shouldn’t be allowing citizens of other nations to vote in our elections, full stop."

The Democrat-controlled City Council drew sharp criticism when it approved the legislation. 

Editors at the National Review argue that the measure not only violates the New York Constitution, but also the wishes of the Founding Fathers, including Alexander Hamilton, himself an immigrant. And the editors at the Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that the argument that residents with green cards and work authorizations 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 Wall Street Journal 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.”

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. The Foundation says Washington, D.C., and Illinois are also considering allowing the practice.