Debate Desk
Should Noncitizens Be Allowed to Vote in Local Elections?
Voting is the central act of citizenship; allowing noncitizens to vote in local races dilutes it and blurs the line federal law draws.
The claim
Some cities have allowed legal residents who are not citizens to vote in school board or city elections. Supporters say people who pay taxes, send children to school and live under local rules should have a say in decisions that affect their daily lives, and that America allowed noncitizen voting in many states in the nineteenth century.
The answer in three points
- Voting is the right and duty of citizens. Citizenship is a status that comes with an oath, an understanding of the civics and a commitment to the country. Allowing voting without it empties the status of its most important privilege.
- A path to citizenship exists for legal residents, and it is a short step compared with the length of a residency. A person who wants a vote in local life can seek one by naturalizing, and communities should help them do so.
- Practical problems follow. Separate ballots and rolls, the chance that a noncitizen registers for a federal contest by mistake, and the difficulty of checking who is eligible at each level all add risk and cost. Federal law already makes it a crime for a noncitizen to vote in federal elections.
A welcoming country can offer a clear and fair road to citizenship, and the vote is its reward.
The numbers
- Federal law, at 18 U.S.C. 611, makes it a crime for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election, according to the U.S. Code.
- Several states, among them Alabama, Colorado and Florida, amended their constitutions in the last decade or so to specify that only citizens may vote, according to their state legislatures.
- The Naturalization Act of 1790 and the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 define the path to citizenship and the rights that go with it.
What they will say next
"Taxation without representation." Taxpayers include visitors, businesses and children, none of whom vote. The principle in 1776 concerned subjects of the Crown who were citizens without a voice. Residents who are not citizens have a path to join the political community.
"It was allowed in the past." In the nineteenth century some states allowed it, in part to attract settlers, and the practice ended by the 1920s because of abuses and a clearer sense of citizenship. The reasons for ending it still apply.
"Local elections are different." The same voters often appear on one ballot for local and federal races, and a school board decision shapes the community's future in the same way. The line should be clear and the same.
The principle is simple: if you want to vote, become a citizen, and we should make that as welcoming as the law allows.
"Legal residents follow the law and pay taxes." They do, and they are welcome participants in civic life in many ways. They can attend meetings, volunteer, speak and petition, and the vote waits at the end of the road to citizenship.