The New York City council is currently drafting legislation that would allow all legal residents, regardless of citizenship, the right to vote in city elections. If the measure passes into law, it would mark a major victory for a voting rights campaign that seeks to enfranchise non-citizen voters in local elections across the country. A few towns already permit non-citizen residents to vote locally, but New York City would be by far the largest jurisdiction to do so.
Under the likely terms of the legislation, legally documented residents who have lived in New York City for at least six months will be able to vote in municipal elections. Reports suggest that the city council is discussing the legislation with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, and that a bill might be introduced as soon as this spring.
While the legislation stands a good chance of sailing through the council and even winning the approval of the mayor, the prospect of New York City enfranchising its residents has stoked controversy. Many Americans find the idea of non-citizen voting entirely unpalatable and fear that it undermines the sanctity and privilege of citizenship.
Advocates for non-citizen voting in New York City argue that it would right a glaring wrong. Invoking the ancient American battle cry of “no taxation without representation”, they point to the enormous numbers of non-citizen residents who pay taxes, send their children to public schools, are active members of their communities, but have no say in local elections.
“People are New Yorkers in profound ways without being citizens of the US,” said Ronald Hayduk, a professor of political science at Queens College and a member of the Coalition to Expand Voting Rights. Non-citizen residents contribute $18.2bn to New York State in income taxes every year. According to a 2013 Fiscal Policy Institute study, 1.3 million people in New York City over the age of 18 are non-citizens. a full 21% of the voting age population. Adjusting the figure to account for undocumented migrants, the study claims that about one million more New Yorkers would be eligible to vote were the bill passed.
Supporters of the legislation claim that politicians can overlook the needs of entire communities if non-citizens don’t have voting rights. Council redistricting has deliberately carved up many immigrant neighborhoods, portioning their non-citizen residents to several districts.
Democratic city councilman Daniel Dromm, the bill’s architect, represents District 25, which includes parts of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst. “Enfranchising non-citizens would make communities like mine more important to city-wide and state officials,” he said. “We can’t ignore them if they can vote.”
Like local elections elsewhere in the US, local elections in New York City suffer from shrinking turnout: 24% of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2013 election that brought the Major De Blasio to office, a new low. “It’s ironic that people think national or state elections are more important than local elections, when they better determine lived day-to-day realities,” Hayduk says. “If there were 1 million new voters in New York City, voter turnout would increase.” More importantly, Hayduk says, non-citizen voting would refresh local politics to better reflect the needs of city residents. “It would produce new issues, new candidates, and new outcomes.”
The current city council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, supports the proposal. While he hasn’t given his explicit backing, De Blasio claims that he remains open to debate on non-citizen voting. The mayor has launched other pro-immigrant reforms, like the municipal ID card.
The city council’s three lonely Republicans have repeatedly voiced their opposition to non-citizen voting. Two of them come from Republican Staten Island and represent districts with very few non-citizens, 4% and 10% respectively. The third, Eric Ulrich, represents a Queens district where one-fifth of residents are non-citizens. “The right to vote is a privilege and a sacred obligation that citizens have enjoyed. It should only be for United States citizens,” he said. “It’s also a reason for people who are on a path to citizenship to aspire to citizenship. It’s something for them to look forward to.”
Peter Schuck, an emeritus professor of law at Yale University, also worries about the dilution of citizenship. “My guess is that it would cause many Americans to wonder what the point of citizenship is if anyone can vote without even bothering to learn or be committed enough to apply for naturalization,” he said via email.
Currently in the US, six small towns in Maryland allow non-citizen voting in local elections. Chicago lets non-citizens vote in its school elections. Advocates of non-citizen voting believe that a victory in New York City would have tremendous symbolic importance in their efforts to expand voting rights across the country.
If this bill does not have a section to verify the tax status of the non-citizen, the “no taxation without representation” argument fails.
I agree with the Chicago's version that allows non-citizens vote in School Board elections, but would add Community Board elections.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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