In a move that could permanently alter New York politics, the New York City Council has approved a legislative measure to give city residents who are non-citizens the right to vote in certain local elections, including for mayor and council members.
New York City’s overwhelmingly Democrat council voted 33-14 on Thursday in favor of the controversial bill, which will now be sent to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio who opposes the proposed changes but is not expected to veto them.
The council explained that NYC is home to millions of working, taxpaying immigrants who have no power to determine who represents them at the ballot box since they’re not yet US citizens.
The new measure makes any lawful permanent resident, a person authorized to work in the US, any New Yorker who has been New York City resident for at least 30 consecutive days eligible to register to vote as a ‘municipal voter.’
The measure covers over 800,000 non-citizens that be able to register to vote from December 2022 and subsequently vote in elections as soon as January 2023 in any “primary, special, general, or run-off election for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, or Council Member, along with any local ballot initiative.”
Yet, it does not allow non-citizen residents to vote in federal or state elections.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who sponsored the bill, pointed that politicians will now have to dedicate the same time and efforts in the communities where non-citizens are the majority as they do in upper-class parts of the city.
This legislative measure puts New York City in the company of other cities, including San Francisco, that have passed similar bills and amendments though NYC is the largest among them.
However, the opponents of the measure argue that only US citizens should be able to vote as they have a higher stake in the country and De Blasio expressed concern about some open questions, noting he wants to make sure that there’s maximum incentive for the non-citizens to finish the citizenship process.
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