(StraightNews.org) — Republicans in the Senate are hoping to overturn a law in Washington, D.C. that allows illegal aliens to vote. In October 2022, Democrats overwhelmingly supported a proposal on the city council to allow those living in the United States unlawfully to vote in local and municipal elections. Federal law prevents noncitizens from voting in national or state elections, but whether they can do so at a local level varies from state to state.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has now introduced a joint resolution that would overturn the new D.C. voting law. He said, “Allowing illegal immigrants and other foreign nationals to vote in our elections, in our capital, is an insult to every American.” He added that it is “insane” to allow this and called on all Democrats to oppose foreign interference in US politics.
There are believed to be around 50,000 illegal immigrants in the capital city.
The right to vote for both legal and illegal immigrants has become a contentious issue in recent months. In Vermont, the state Supreme Court held in January that noncitizens could vote and disagreed with Republicans who argued that this was unconstitutional.
As of December 2022, there were four states – Arizona, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Ohio – with constitutions that specifically state that noncitizens may not vote in any elections. Across the country, a total of 16 municipalities permit non-US citizens or illegal migrants to vote locally. These include eleven districts in Maryland, two cities in Vermont, and two in California.
The issue has been put to the test in New York City. In 2021, lawmakers approved legislation allowing 800,000 legal immigrants to vote in local elections. By the summer of 2022 however, the New York State Supreme Court for Staten Island had ruled that the law violated the state constitution. Republicans at the time said allowing noncitizens, whether legal or not, to vote in elections would dilute the benefits of citizenship.
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