The push has begun in earnest for leftists and Democrats to start reaping true electoral rewards from their open borders policies.
The New York City Council is slated to vote next month on legislation that will allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections and referendums, reported National Review. The law would apply to green-card holders and residents with work permits, with nearly 810,000 NYC residents meeting that criteria.
The proposed law would only hold for local elections and ballot measures, not federal, and wouldn’t apply to illegal immigrants. The legislation could also face several legal obstacles before it could be enacted, the most obvious being a state constitution that specifies that voters must be “citizens age 18 or older.”
Other states have been actively pushing back against noncitizen voting, reported the Intercept. Four states — Colorado, Florida, North Dakota, and Alabama — passed ballot amendments in the last few years to clarify in their state constitutions that only U.S. citizens can vote.
Indeed, the New York state constitution’s wording was clear enough to make even notoriously liberal Mayor Bill de Blasio balk at the scope of the measure, saying he would likely veto the bill.
“We’ve done everything that we could possibly get our hands on to help immigrant New Yorkers—including undocumented folks—but…I don’t believe it is legal,” de Blasio said.
Not that de Blasio’s opinion or veto would have much impact; the proposed law reportedly has a veto-proof majority of support on council.
Also, NYC mayor-elect Eric Adams has previously indicated his support for the bill.
“In a democracy, nothing is more fundamental than the right to vote and to say who represents you and your community in elected office,” Adams said. “Currently, almost one million New Yorkers are denied this foundational right.”
Never mind that those nearly one million New Yorkers aren’t actual American citizens, even if they’ve entered the country legally. Following the proper and legal steps to obtain that privilege gives them the right to live and work here, but not the right to vote. At least not yet.
