Breitbart — More cities are trying to follow in the footsteps of D.C.-area jurisdictions to give non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections.
Though many of these proposals have failed, the Washington Post notes that activists in Amherst, Massachusetts, Madison, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Vermont are also clamoring to give voting rights to non-citizens. In New York, as Breitbart News has noted, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he would like to “continue the conversation” this year on giving voting rights to non-citizens.
Six Maryland jurisdictions and Chicago allow non-citizens to vote in some local elections.
The Post notes that opponents believe the campaign to grant voting rights to non-citizens “is part of a political scheme to create more Latino voters, who polls show tend to prefer Democrats,” especially since the “largest number of green-card holders are from Mexico.”
D.C. Council member David Grosso introduced a bill to give non-citizens the right to vote in local elections, but ” he acknowledged that the new proposal is unlikely to go far.” As the Post notes, voters in Portland, Maine, and San Francisco have rejected proposals to give voting rights to non-citizens.
