NYC Council Passes Non-Citizen Immigrant Voting Bill

NEW YORK CITY — A bill granting voting rights to non-citizen immigrants in New York City passed the City Council.

Council members approved the bill Thursday in a 34-14 vote that reflected the controversy surrounding it.

For proponents such as Ydanis Rodriguez, who sponsored the bill, the measure gives hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers with green cards s necessary voice and adequate representation in the city they call home.

"It is no secret that inside these chambers, the New York City Council is making history," he said. "Many other cities across the country, as well as abroad, are watching this meeting today."

#Breaking: The New York City Council becomes the largest city in the nation to enfranchise non-citizen immigrant New Yorkers.

We have made history today. Nearly 1 Million non-citizen immigrant New Yorkers will be allowed to participate in our City’s election! #Intro1867 pic.twitter.com/uxHVfbSH45
— Ydanis Rodriguez (@ydanis) December 9, 2021

But opponents mounted a last-ditch, and ultimately unsuccessful, effort to effectively scuttle the bill. Several Council members made speeches expressing worry that the city would be overstepping its bounds legally, a sentiment shared by Mayor Bill de Blasio, although he has said he would not veto the measure.

Newly sworn-in Council Member Tiffany Caban rebutted the arguments in a speech. She said democracy would be enhanced, not watered down, by letting all people who live in the city have a voice and a vote.

"I see #OurCityOurVote as a vital stepping stone on the way to a fully inclusive democracy," she tweeted.

I see #OurCityOurVote as a vital stepping stone on the way to a fully inclusive democracy. For one thing, going forward, I am eager to fight for these rights to be extended to undocumented New Yorkers…
— Tiffany Cabán (@tiffany_caban) December 9, 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.