NYC Sets Stage For Allowing Noncitizens To Vote

NEW YORK CITY — More than 800,000 green card holders and those with work permits are all New Yorkers except in one crucial sense: they can't vote.

But soon those non-citizen New Yorkers could stroll up to the ballot box and have a say in how their city is run.

The City Council is expected to approve a non-citizen voting measure on Dec. 9, the New York Times first reported.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, who sponsored the bill, said it would be the greatest expansion of eligible voters in 50 years — an achievement in a time when many states are passing more restrictive voting laws.

"New York City will be making history,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “After getting the right to vote in local elections as a result of this bill, there is a high probability that immigrants would become even more motivated to become citizens and vote in federal elections. Let’s be clear, after passing this bill, other municipalities will follow in New York City’s footsteps and realize that if they have immigrant residents who pay their taxes and contribute to their city, they should also have the right to vote in their local elections."

Join us today at City Hall Park @12PM for a rally supporting the Municipal Voting Rights Bill #OurCityOurBill! It’s long past the time we allowed our immigrant brothers and sisters to participate in our local elections. pic.twitter.com/xbZJpqjDm4
— Ydanis Rodriguez (@ydanis) November 23, 2021

The legislation will allow permanent residents — or green card holders — and those with the legal right to work in the United States to vote in municipal elections and on local ballot initiatives.

Council members are expected to approve the measure with a veto-proof majority. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he didn't expect to veto the bill, although he acknowledged reservations about the city's legal ability to put it into action.

"I don't see a scenario where I'll veto," he said Tuesday. "To me, this is something that, again, I'm not sure is legally what a city can do. I think it's something the state government needs to do, but let's see what they bring forward, and then we can judge accordingly from there."