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Non-citizen suffrage in the United States

March 23, 2023

See also: Non-citizen suffrage

The right of non-citizens to vote in the United States[1][2] has historically been a contentious issue. Since 1997, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 has prohibited non-citizens from voting in federal elections, with the threat of fines, imprisonment, inadmissibility and deportation.[3][4][5] Exempt from punishment is any noncitizen who, at the time of voting, had two natural or adoptive U.S. citizen parents, who began permanently living in the United States before turning 16 years old, and who reasonably believed that they were a citizen of the United States.[3] At one point or another before 1926 40 states had non-citizens voting in elections.[6] While federal law does not prohibit noncitizens from voting in state or local elections, no state has allowed noncitizens to vote in statewide elections since Arkansas became the last state to outlaw noncitizen voting in state elections in 1926.[7] As of December 2022, at least thirteen local jurisdictions allow non-citizen voting, namely Winooski and Montpelier in Vermont, and eleven in Maryland near Washington, D.C.[9] Additionally, the U.S. territories of American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands allow non-citizen US nationals to vote.[10][11]

Discussion

Jamie Raskin, an American law professor and politician, has argued that the blanket exclusion of noncitizens from the ballot is neither constitutionally required nor historically normal.[12] A San Francisco State University political science professor and rights activist, Ron Hayduk, wrote in 2006 a book entitled Democracy For All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States, presenting additional elements of the historical and present reality of noncitizens voting rights in the United States.[13] In 2017 Joe Matthews, Connecting California columnist and California editor at Zócalo Public Square, an Ideas Exchange that is a project of New America and Arizona State University,[14] called for universal suffrage.[15]

Pre-1926

While initial research showed that 22 states or territories, including colonies before the Declaration of Independence, have at some time given at least some voting rights to non-citizens in some or all elections,[12][13] more recent and in-depth studies uncovered evidence of 40 states providing suffrage for non-citizens at some point before 1926.[6] For example, in 1875, the Supreme Court in Minor v. Happersett noted that "citizenship has not in all cases been made a condition precedent to the enjoyment of the right of suffrage. Thus, in Missouri, persons of foreign birth, who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, may under certain circumstances vote."[16]

By 1900, nearly half of the states and territories had some experience with voting by non-citizens, and for some the experience lasted more than half a century.[17] At the turn of the twentieth century, anti-immigration feeling ran high, and Alabama stopped allowing non-citizens to vote by way of a constitutional change in 1901; Colorado followed suit in 1902, Wisconsin in 1908, and Oregon in 1914.[18] Just as the nationalism unleashed by the War of 1812 helped to reverse the non-citizen suffrage policies inherited from the late eighteenth century, World War I caused a sweeping retreat from the progressive non-citizen suffrage policies of the late nineteenth century.[19] In 1918, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota all changed their constitutions to purge non-citizen suffrage, and Texas ended the practice of noncitizen voting in primary elections by statute.[18] Indiana and Texas joined the trend in 1921, followed by Mississippi in 1924 and, finally, Arkansas in 1926.[20] In 1931, political scientist Leon Aylsworth noted that "[f]or the first time in over a hundred years, a national election was held in 1928 in which no alien in any state had the right to cast a vote for a candidate for any office – national, state, or local."[21]

No citizenship requirement for suffrage

Connecticut

1776–1819[13]

Delaware

1776–1831[13]

Illinois

  • Article 27 of the 1818 Illinois Constitution: "In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of 21 years, having resided in the state six months next preceding the election, shall enjoy the right of an elector"
  • 1848: end of non-citizen suffrage by constitutional amendment, but noncitizens who were present in 1848 were grandfathered.[13]

Kentucky

1789–1799[13]

Maryland

1776–1851[13]

Massachusetts

  • 1780 Massachusetts Constitution:[13][22]
    • Article IV (Chapter I., Section III. House of Representatives) : "Every male person, being twenty-one years of age, and resident in any particular town in this Commonwealth for the space of one year next preceding, having a freehold estate within the same town, of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate of the value of sixty pounds, shall have a right to vote in the choice of a Representative or Representatives for the said town."
    • Article II (Chapter I, Section II. Senate): "every male inhabitant of twenty-one years of age and upwards, having a freehold estate within the Commonwealth, of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate of the value of sixty pounds, shall have a right to give in his vote for the Senators for the district of which he is an inhabitant. And to remove all doubts concerning the meaning of the word "inhabitant" in this constitution, every person shall be considered as an inhabitant, for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office, or place within this State, in that town, district, or plantation, where he dwelleth, or hath his home."

New Hampshire

1792–1814[13]

New Jersey

1776–1820[13]

New York

1777 New York State Constitution, Article VII: "[E]very male inhabitant of full age, who shall have personally resided within one of the counties of this State for six months immediately preceding the day of election, shall, at such election, be entitled to vote for representatives of the said county in assembly; if, during the time aforesaid, he shall have been a freeholder, possessing a freehold of the value of twenty pounds, within the said county, or have rented a tenement therein of the yearly value of forty shillings, and been rated and actually paid taxes to this State: Provided always, That every person who now is a freeman of the city of Albany, or who was made a freeman of the city of New York on or before the fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and shall be actually and usually resident in the said cities, respectively, shall be entitled to vote for representatives in assembly within his said place of residence."[23]

1776–1804[13]

North Carolina

1704–1856[13]

Northwest Territory

1787 Northwest Ordinance (valid until 1803) "Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same; Provided, also, That a freehold in 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative."[24]

Ohio

  • 1802 Constitution: "In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the State one year next preceding the election, and who have paid or are charged with a State or county tax, shall enjoy the right of an elector"[25]
  • 1851: end of non-citizen voting rights[13]

Pennsylvania

  • 1776 Constitution: "all free men having a sufficient evident common interest with, and attachment to the community, have a right to elect officers, or to be elected into office"[26]
  • 1790 Constitution (Art. III section 1.): "In elections by the citizens, every freeman of the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the State two years next before the election, and within that time paid a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least six months before the election, shall enjoy the rights of an elector: Provided, That the sons of persons qualified asaforesaid, between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-two years, shall be entitled to vote, although they shall not have paid taxes."[27]
  • 1838 Constitution (Art. III, section 1.): "In elections by the citizens, every white freeman of the age of twenty-one years, having resided in this State one year, and in the election-district where he offers to vote ten days immediately preceding such election, and within two years paid a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least ten days before the election, shall enjoy the rights of an elector. ..."[28]
  • 1874 Constitution (Article VIII, section 1.): "Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections: First—He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month. ..."[29]

Rhode Island

1762–1842[13]

South Carolina

1790–?[13]

Tennessee

1796–1834[13]

Vermont

  • 1776 and 1786 Constitutions: "all freemen. having a sufficient, evident, common interest with, and attachment to the community, have a right to elect officers, or be elected into office."[30][31]
  • 1793 Constitution (Section 21st): "Every man of the full age of twenty one years, having resided in this State for the space of one whole year next before the election of Representatives, and is of a quiet and peaceable behaviour, and will take the following oath or affirmation, shall be entitled to all the privileges of a freeman of this State. "You solemnly swear (or affirm) that whenever you give your vote or suffrage, touching any matter that concerns the State of Vermont, you will do it so as in your conscience you shall judge will most conduce to the best good of the same, as established by the constitution, without fear or favour of any man." "[32]
  • 1828: end of non-citizen suffrage for federal elections; but still up to 1977 for local elections.[33]

Virginia

  • 1776 Virginia Bill of Rights: "all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage"[34]
  • 1850: end of non-citizen voting rights[13]

Suffrage for those who intend to become citizens

Alabama

  • 1868: "Every male person, born in the United States, and every male person who has been naturalized, or who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old or upward, who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election, and three months in the county in which he offers to vote, except as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed an elector"[35]
  • 1901: "Every male citizen of this state who is a citizen of the United States, and every male resident of foreign birth, who, before the ratification of this Constitution, shall have legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old or upwards, not laboring under any of the disabilities named in this article, and possessing the qualifications required by it, shall be an elector, and shall be entitled to vote at any election by the people; provided, that all foreigners who have legally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, shall, if they fail to become citizens thereof at the time they are entitled to become such, cease to have the right to vote until they become such citizens"[36]

Arkansas

  • 1874: "Every male citizen of the United States, or male person who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the same, of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in the State twelve months, and in the county six months, and in the voting precinct or ward one month, next preceding any election, where he may propose to vote, shall be entitled to vote at all elections by the people."[37]
  • 1926: end of non-citizen voting rights[12][13][38]

Colorado

1876–1902[13]

Florida

  • 1868: "Every male person of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, of whatever race, color, nationality, or previous condition, who shall, at the time of offering to vote, be a citizen of the United States, or who shall have declared his intention to become such in conformity to the laws of the United States, and who shall have resided and had his habitation, domicil, home, and place of permanent abode in Florida for one year, and in the county for six months, next preceding the election at which he shall offer to vote, shall in such county be deemed a qualified elector at all elections under this Constitution."[39]
  • 1894: end of non-citizen voting rights[13]

Georgia

  • 1868 "Every male person born in the United States and every male person who has been naturalized, or who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old or upward, who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election, and shall have resided thirty days in the county in which he offers to vote, and shall have paid all taxes which may have been required of him, and which he may have had an opportunity of paying, agreeably to law, for the year next preceding the election (except as hereinafter provided), shall be deemed an elector"[40]
  • 1877: end of non-citizen voting rights[13]

Idaho

1863–1890[13]

Indiana

  • 1851: "In all elections, not otherwise provided for by this Constitution, every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the State during the six months immediately preceding such election; and every white male, of foreign birth, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the United States one year, and shall have resided in the State during the six months immediately preceding such election, and shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization; shall be entitled to vote, in the township or precinct where he may reside."; "No Negro or Mulatto shall have the right of suffrage"[41]
  • 1921: end of non-citizen voting rights[12][13]

Kansas

  • 1859: "Every white male person, of twenty-one years and upward, belonging to either of the following classes, who shall have resided in Kansas six months next preceding any election, and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote at least thirty days next preceding such election, shall be deemed a qualified elector: First, Citizens of the United States. Second, Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens, conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization."[42]
  • 1918: end of non-citizen voting rights[12][13]

Louisiana

1879–?[13]

Michigan

  • 1850: "In all elections, every male inhabitant of this State, being a citizen of the United States, every male inhabitant residing in this State on the twenty-fourth day of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-five, every male inhabitant residing in this State on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and fifty, every male inhabitant of foreign birth who, having resided in the State two years and six months prior to the eighth day of November, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and having declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States two years and six months prior to said last named day, and every civilized male inhabitant of Indian descent, a native of the United States and not a member of any tribe, shall be an elector and entitled to vote; but no one shall be an elector or entitled to vote at any election unless he shall be above the age of twenty-one years, and has resided in this State six month, and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote, twenty days next preceding such election"[43]
  • 1894: end of non-citizen voting rights[13]

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

1865–1921[13]

Montana

1864–1889[13]

Nebraska

1854–1918[13]

Nevada

1848–1864[13]

North Dakota

1889-1889/1909[13]

Oklahoma

1850–1907[13]

Oregon

1848–1914[13]

South Dakota

1850–1918[13]

Texas

  • 1876: "Every male person subject to none of the foregoing disqualifications, who shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, and who shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an election, and the last six months within the district or county in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified elector; and every male person of foreign birth, subject to none of the foregoing disqualifications, who, at any time before an election, shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, in accordance with the federal naturalization laws, and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding such election, and the last six months in the county in which he offers to vote, shall also be deemed a qualified elector"[45]
  • 1921[46]

Washington

(1853–1889)

Wisconsin

  • 1848: "Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, or upwards, of the following classes, who shall have resided in this State for one year next preceding any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election. 1st. White citizens of the United States 2d. White persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization ..."; "No person shall be eligible to the legislature, who shall not have resided one year within the state, and be a qualified elector in the district he may be chosen to represent."[47]
  • 1908

Wyoming

(1850–1889)

American Samoa & the Northern Mariana Islands

Main articles: Elections in American Samoa and Elections in the Northern Mariana Islands

Unlike the United States's other self-governing territories, American Samoa, an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States since 1900, has not been given jus soli birthright citizenship either by incorporation or act of Congress for those born in its borders. As a result, people born in American Samoa or any United States Minor Outlying Islands are not given automatic US citizenship but have instead been given US nationality without citizenship.[48][49][50]

Residents of the Northern Mariana Islands gained automatic US citizenship via the Covenant with the United States in November 1986, but also have the option (prior to reaching the age of 18) to reject US citizenship and accept non-citizen US nationality instead.[51]

Under American Samoa law and Northern Mariana Islands law, both US citizens and non-citizen nationals may register to vote,[10][11] making them the only jurisdictions at the state or territorial level that allow non-citizens to vote and making their delegates the only members of Congress voted for by non-citizens (though those members cannot themselves vote in Congress, because territories are not represented there in the Constitution).

21st century

Only citizens clause

 
Map of US States where in their constitutions they specify that only U.S. citizens can vote

As of January 14, 2023, eight state constitutions explicitly require citizenship for voting:

California

On October 28, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that automatically registers all citizen resident holders of a driver's license as a registered voter for all California ballots, including federal elections. Opponents expressed concern this could offer suffrage rights to noncitizen residents, since a January 2015 legislation decreed the right of a driver's license to noncitizens.[60] However, as the Sacramento Bee pointed out, "people will need to attest they're citizens before being able to register," "undocumented immigrants applying for driver's licenses, a right they gained this year, will not be offered the option."[61] Citizenship status is verified at the DMV when applying for a license.[62]

While voting as a noncitizen in a federal election carries legal penalties, California Assembly Bill No. 1461[63] removes legal ramifications from the State of California for individuals that accurately represent themselves and the DMV incorrectly registers the individual to vote, which means a failure on the DMV clerk or system to properly execute the process of verifying the voter registration information for the individual:

"Existing law makes it a crime for a person to willfully cause, procure, or allow himself or herself or any other person to be registered as a voter, knowing that he or she or that other person is not entitled to registration. Existing law also makes it a crime to fraudulently vote or attempt to vote.

This bill would provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote by operation of the California New Motor Voter Program in the absence of a violation by that person of the crime described above, that person's registration shall be presumed to have been effected with official authorization and not the fault of that person. The bill would also provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote by operation of this program, and that person votes or attempts to vote in an election held after the effective date of the person's registration, that person shall be presumed to have acted with official authorization and is not guilty of fraudulently voting or attempting to vote, unless that person willfully votes or attempts to vote knowing that he or she is not entitled to vote."

This specific wording is added to deal with California Probate Code Section 18100, as is noted later in the bill, describing good faith transactions with a trustee.

San Francisco Proposition N

In November 2016 voters in San Francisco approved a proposal to allow all parents of children in the San Francisco school system to vote in school board elections regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.[64] Unless extended by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the proposition is only effective for the school board elections of 2018, 2020, and 2022.[65] Voters rejected similar proposals in 2004 and 2010.[66]

On July 29, 2022, ordinance 206-21, which allowed noncitizens to vote in San Francisco school board elections, was struck down based on a judge's interpretation of California's Constitution.[67][68][69]

Critics, such as Florida's Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, have used this proposition to generalize that noncitizens can vote in San Francisco.[70] Former Congressmember Doug Ose has submitted a proposed ballot measure to state officials that would ban voting by those in the U.S. illegally.[71]

San Francisco's effort to get noncitizen parents to the ballot box in mid-term elections in 2018 resulted in only 49 people signing up to vote.

Connecticut

An "act concerning voting by resident alien property owners", "to allow alien property owners to vote at town meetings and referenda", was submitted to the Connecticut General Assembly in 2003.[72]

District of Columbia

An "Equitable Voting Rights Amendment Act" was proposed, and rejected in commission, in 2004.[73]

Maine

LD 1195, "An Act To Allow Noncitizen Residents To Vote in Municipal Elections", was submitted to the 124th Maine Legislature in 2009 and was voted down.[74]

Maryland

Maryland ended noncitizen voting rights for state and federal elections in 1851, but its constitution recognizes the autonomy of local municipalities and localities on the subject.

Places where noncitizens can currently vote in Maryland

As of February, 2008, one city, three towns, and three villages in Montgomery County have introduced bills to restore the right to vote to foreigners within their jurisdictions:[13][75]

Massachusetts

Three municipal assemblies in the state of Massachusetts have introduced bills to confer foreigners the right to vote. The municipal assembly in the city of Newton introduced a bill to this effect in 2004, while Amherst and Cambridge did so in 1998.[87] However, as of February 2008, the proposals had not been approved by the state's assembly.

Minnesota

A "bill for an act relating to elections; proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article VII, section 1; authorizing local units of government to permit permanent resident noncitizens to vote in local elections" was submitted on February 7, 2005 at the Minnesota House of Representatives.[88]

New York

In New York City, noncitizens who have children in public schools could vote in school board elections until 2002. Since then there are no longer elected school boards.

In 2021, New York City passed a law allowing legal immigrants the right to vote in city and borough elections.[89] This law was struck down as violating the New York State constitution, preventing it from going into effect, but as of June 2022, the city intended to appeal.[90] Previously, bills had been submitted at the New York City Council and at the New York State Assembly in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2010.[91]

Ohio

Yellow Springs, Ohio passed a law by referendum in 2019, allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. This was disallowed by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.[92] The Ohio constitution was amended in 2022 to specifically exclude non-citizens from voting.

Texas

A bill was submitted by Rep. Roberto Alonzo in 1995 "proposing a constitutional amendment providing by local option for a lawfully admitted resident alien to vote in an election held by a political subdivision."[93]

Vermont

Montpelier citizens passed a charter change on November 6, 2018 that would afford full voting rights in municipal elections to any legal non-citizens residing in the city.[94] A similar proposal in Winooski was defeated in 2018[95] and passed in 2020.[96] Approval for all localities was granted by the Vermont state legislature in June 2021, overriding the veto of Governor Phil Scott.[97]

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  60. ^ Mason, Melanie (October 16, 2015). "Here's how California's new voter registration law will work - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times.
  61. ^ Jeremy B. Whyte'California voter law could register millions – for a start', Sacramento Bee, October 20, 2015
  62. ^ "Driver License (DL) and Identification (ID) Card Information". www.dmv.ca.gov.
  63. ^ "Bill Text". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  64. ^ Text of the proposal is here and election results are here - scroll down to Local Measure N - Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections.
  65. ^ Lin II, Rong-Gong (November 9, 2016). "San Francisco measure to allow noncitizen parents to vote in school board elections leading". Los Angeles Times.
  66. ^ Immigrant Voting Rights in California July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  67. ^ Egelco, Bob (July 29, 2022). "Judge strikes down San Francisco law allowing noncitizen parents to vote in school elections". San Francisco Chronicle.
  68. ^ url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22123680-2202-07-29-lacy-order-granting-writ-of-mandate?responsive=1&title=1
  69. ^ "Judge strikes down San Francisco law allowing noncitizen parents to vote in school elections". MSN. July 29, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  70. ^ Valverde, Miriam (September 15, 2017). "Can noncitizens vote in San Francisco, Takoma Park elections?". politifact.
  71. ^ Myers, John. "Former GOP congressman wants an official ban on 'noncitizens' voting in California". Los Angeles Times.
  72. ^ "C G A". Connecticut General Assembly. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  73. ^ Immigrant voting rights in Washington, D.C. July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  74. ^ "Summary". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  75. ^ Earnest, David C. (August 29, 2003). "Noncitizen Voting Rights: A Survey of an Emerging Democratic Norm" (PDF). Old Dominion University.
  76. ^ Barnesville Town Charter "SECTION 74- 3. Commissioners- Election: Qualifications. The qualified voters of said town having resided therein for six months previous to any town election and being eighteen years of age shall ..."
  77. ^ Chevy Chase Section 3 - About the Village Council "Anyone age 18 or older who is a resident of Section 3 is a qualified voter regardless of citizenship or ownership status."
  78. ^ Town of Garrett Park - Voter Registration "Every qualified voter of the town is entitled to vote in all town elections, whether or not they are a citizen of the United States."
  79. ^ Town of Glen Echo - Town Election "2. Any person who is not a United States citizen, and (a) is a resident of the Town of Glen Echo,(b) is a lawful resident of the United States, and (c) except for the United States citizenship requirement, meets the voter qualifications provided in Section 501(a) may register to vote in Town elections, as set forth in Charter Section 506."
  80. ^ Hyattsville, MD - Elections "Hyattsville residents who are not U.S. citizens, or do not wish to register with the State, may use the Hyattsville City Voter Registration Form."
  81. ^ "Hyattsville will allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in city elections - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
  82. ^ Village of Martin's Additions - Village Council Election Process "Non-U.S. citizens are allowed to vote."
  83. ^ City of Mount Rainier - City Elections section "Voter Registration": "Any resident of the City of Mount Rainier who is not eligible to vote in the State and County elections but meets the voter qualifications set forth in Section 502 of the City Charter and applicable Charter Amendments, may register with the Mount Rainier Board of Elections to vote in City elections. 1. This includes those residents of the City who are U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents (also known as “Green Card Holders”), holders of temporary visas (including, but not limited to: work visas, student visas, refugees, those with Temporary Protected Status), and those who do not have formal U.S. immigration status."
  84. ^ "Mt. Rainier extends vote to non-citizens".
  85. ^ Town of Somerset - Who can vote in Town Elections? "A citizen of the United States of America or an alien legally authorized to reside in the United States"
  86. ^ City of Takoma Park - Register to Vote "City residents who are not citizens of the United States can register to vote in Takoma Park elections by completing the Takoma Park Voter Registration Application."
  87. ^ "Non-citizens (aliens) voting rights in Massachusetts – the debate in the City of Newton (excerpts from meetings of the board of aldermen and the programs and services committee, 2004–2007". Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  88. ^ "H.F. No. 818, as introduced – 84th Legislative Session (2005–2006)".
  89. ^ Maria Sacchetti (December 9, 2021). "New York City becomes the largest municipality in the U.S. to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections". The Washington Post.
  90. ^ New York City’s Noncitizen Voting Law Is Struck Down
  91. ^ . Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  92. ^ Ohio Issue 2, Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment (2022)
  93. ^ "Non-citizens (aliens) voting rights in Texas". Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  94. ^ (2018) Montpelier Approves Non-Citizen Voting in Local Elections. In: U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/vermont/articles/2018-11-08/montpelier-approves-non-citizen-voting-in-local-elections.
  95. ^ Davis, M. (2018, December 10). Vermont's Most Diverse City Rejects Noncitizen Voting for Now. Retrieved from https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermonts-most-diverse-city-rejects-noncitizen-voting-for-now/Content?oid=20697360Montpelier Approves Non-Citizen Voting in Local Elections. (2018, November 8). Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/vermont/articles/2018-11-08/montpelier-approves-non-citizen-voting-in-local-elections
  96. ^ Gokee, Amanda (November 3, 2020). "Winooski approves noncitizen voting". VTDigger. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  97. ^ Vermont Senate overrides vetoes of noncitizen voting measures, approves housing bill

General references

  • Earnest, David C. (November 7, 2003). "Voting Rights for Resident Aliens: A Comparison of 25 Democracies" (PDF). Old Dominion University. p. 33. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
  • Hayduk, Ron (2006). Democracy for All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-95073-2
  • Hayduk, Ron (2015). "Political Rights in the Age of Migration: Lessons from the United States." Journal of International Migration & Integration. Volume 16, Issue 1, pp 99–118.

External links

  • Citizen Voters, an advocacy group that tracks efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting

March 23, 2023
citizen, suffrage, united, states, also, citizen, suffrage, right, citizens, vote, united, states, historically, been, contentious, issue, since, 1997, illegal, immigration, reform, immigrant, responsibility, 1996, prohibited, citizens, from, voting, federal, . See also Non citizen suffrage The right of non citizens to vote in the United States 1 2 has historically been a contentious issue Since 1997 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 has prohibited non citizens from voting in federal elections with the threat of fines imprisonment inadmissibility and deportation 3 4 5 Exempt from punishment is any noncitizen who at the time of voting had two natural or adoptive U S citizen parents who began permanently living in the United States before turning 16 years old and who reasonably believed that they were a citizen of the United States 3 At one point or another before 1926 40 states had non citizens voting in elections 6 While federal law does not prohibit noncitizens from voting in state or local elections no state has allowed noncitizens to vote in statewide elections since Arkansas became the last state to outlaw noncitizen voting in state elections in 1926 7 As of December 2022 at least thirteen local jurisdictions allow non citizen voting namely Winooski and Montpelier in Vermont and eleven in Maryland near Washington D C 9 Additionally the U S territories of American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands allow non citizen US nationals to vote 10 11 Contents 1 Discussion 2 Pre 1926 2 1 No citizenship requirement for suffrage 2 1 1 Connecticut 2 1 2 Delaware 2 1 3 Illinois 2 1 4 Kentucky 2 1 5 Maryland 2 1 6 Massachusetts 2 1 7 New Hampshire 2 1 8 New Jersey 2 1 9 New York 2 1 10 North Carolina 2 1 11 Northwest Territory 2 1 12 Ohio 2 1 13 Pennsylvania 2 1 14 Rhode Island 2 1 15 South Carolina 2 1 16 Tennessee 2 1 17 Vermont 2 1 18 Virginia 2 2 Suffrage for those who intend to become citizens 2 2 1 Alabama 2 2 2 Arkansas 2 2 3 Colorado 2 2 4 Florida 2 2 5 Georgia 2 2 6 Idaho 2 2 7 Indiana 2 2 8 Kansas 2 2 9 Louisiana 2 2 10 Michigan 2 2 11 Minnesota 2 2 12 Mississippi 2 2 13 Missouri 2 2 14 Montana 2 2 15 Nebraska 2 2 16 Nevada 2 2 17 North Dakota 2 2 18 Oklahoma 2 2 19 Oregon 2 2 20 South Dakota 2 2 21 Texas 2 2 22 Washington 2 2 23 Wisconsin 2 2 24 Wyoming 3 American Samoa amp the Northern Mariana Islands 4 21st century 4 1 Only citizens clause 4 2 California 4 2 1 San Francisco Proposition N 4 3 Connecticut 4 4 District of Columbia 4 5 Maine 4 6 Maryland 4 6 1 Places where noncitizens can currently vote in Maryland 4 7 Massachusetts 4 8 Minnesota 4 9 New York 4 10 Ohio 4 11 Texas 4 12 Vermont 5 References 5 1 General references 6 External linksDiscussion EditJamie Raskin an American law professor and politician has argued that the blanket exclusion of noncitizens from the ballot is neither constitutionally required nor historically normal 12 A San Francisco State University political science professor and rights activist Ron Hayduk wrote in 2006 a book entitled Democracy For All Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States presenting additional elements of the historical and present reality of noncitizens voting rights in the United States 13 In 2017 Joe Matthews Connecting California columnist and California editor at Zocalo Public Square an Ideas Exchange that is a project of New America and Arizona State University 14 called for universal suffrage 15 Pre 1926 EditWhile initial research showed that 22 states or territories including colonies before the Declaration of Independence have at some time given at least some voting rights to non citizens in some or all elections 12 13 more recent and in depth studies uncovered evidence of 40 states providing suffrage for non citizens at some point before 1926 6 For example in 1875 the Supreme Court in Minor v Happersett noted that citizenship has not in all cases been made a condition precedent to the enjoyment of the right of suffrage Thus in Missouri persons of foreign birth who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States may under certain circumstances vote 16 By 1900 nearly half of the states and territories had some experience with voting by non citizens and for some the experience lasted more than half a century 17 At the turn of the twentieth century anti immigration feeling ran high and Alabama stopped allowing non citizens to vote by way of a constitutional change in 1901 Colorado followed suit in 1902 Wisconsin in 1908 and Oregon in 1914 18 Just as the nationalism unleashed by the War of 1812 helped to reverse the non citizen suffrage policies inherited from the late eighteenth century World War I caused a sweeping retreat from the progressive non citizen suffrage policies of the late nineteenth century 19 In 1918 Kansas Nebraska and South Dakota all changed their constitutions to purge non citizen suffrage and Texas ended the practice of noncitizen voting in primary elections by statute 18 Indiana and Texas joined the trend in 1921 followed by Mississippi in 1924 and finally Arkansas in 1926 20 In 1931 political scientist Leon Aylsworth noted that f or the first time in over a hundred years a national election was held in 1928 in which no alien in any state had the right to cast a vote for a candidate for any office national state or local 21 No citizenship requirement for suffrage Edit Connecticut Edit 1776 1819 13 Delaware Edit 1776 1831 13 Illinois Edit Article 27 of the 1818 Illinois Constitution In all elections all white male inhabitants above the age of 21 years having resided in the state six months next preceding the election shall enjoy the right of an elector 1848 end of non citizen suffrage by constitutional amendment but noncitizens who were present in 1848 were grandfathered 13 Kentucky Edit 1789 1799 13 Maryland Edit 1776 1851 13 Massachusetts Edit 1780 Massachusetts Constitution 13 22 Article IV Chapter I Section III House of Representatives Every male person being twenty one years of age and resident in any particular town in this Commonwealth for the space of one year next preceding having a freehold estate within the same town of the annual income of three pounds or any estate of the value of sixty pounds shall have a right to vote in the choice of a Representative or Representatives for the said town Article II Chapter I Section II Senate every male inhabitant of twenty one years of age and upwards having a freehold estate within the Commonwealth of the annual income of three pounds or any estate of the value of sixty pounds shall have a right to give in his vote for the Senators for the district of which he is an inhabitant And to remove all doubts concerning the meaning of the word inhabitant in this constitution every person shall be considered as an inhabitant for the purpose of electing and being elected into any office or place within this State in that town district or plantation where he dwelleth or hath his home New Hampshire Edit 1792 1814 13 New Jersey Edit 1776 1820 13 New York Edit 1777 New York State Constitution Article VII E very male inhabitant of full age who shall have personally resided within one of the counties of this State for six months immediately preceding the day of election shall at such election be entitled to vote for representatives of the said county in assembly if during the time aforesaid he shall have been a freeholder possessing a freehold of the value of twenty pounds within the said county or have rented a tenement therein of the yearly value of forty shillings and been rated and actually paid taxes to this State Provided always That every person who now is a freeman of the city of Albany or who was made a freeman of the city of New York on or before the fourteenth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy five and shall be actually and usually resident in the said cities respectively shall be entitled to vote for representatives in assembly within his said place of residence 23 1776 1804 13 North Carolina Edit 1704 1856 13 Northwest Territory Edit 1787 Northwest Ordinance valid until 1803 Provided That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years and be a resident in the district or unless he shall have resided in the district three years and in either case shall likewise hold in his own right in fee simple two hundred acres of land within the same Provided also That a freehold in 50 acres 200 000 m2 of land in the district having been a citizen of one of the states and being resident in the district or the like freehold and two years residence in the district shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative 24 Ohio Edit 1802 Constitution In all elections all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty one years having resided in the State one year next preceding the election and who have paid or are charged with a State or county tax shall enjoy the right of an elector 25 1851 end of non citizen voting rights 13 Pennsylvania Edit 1776 Constitution all free men having a sufficient evident common interest with and attachment to the community have a right to elect officers or to be elected into office 26 1790 Constitution Art III section 1 In elections by the citizens every freeman of the age of twenty one years having resided in the State two years next before the election and within that time paid a State or county tax which shall have been assessed at least six months before the election shall enjoy the rights of an elector Provided That the sons of persons qualified asaforesaid between the ages of twenty one and twenty two years shall be entitled to vote although they shall not have paid taxes 27 1838 Constitution Art III section 1 In elections by the citizens every white freeman of the age of twenty one years having resided in this State one year and in the election district where he offers to vote ten days immediately preceding such election and within two years paid a State or county tax which shall have been assessed at least ten days before the election shall enjoy the rights of an elector 28 1874 Constitution Article VIII section 1 Every male citizen twenty one years of age possessing the following qualifications shall be entitled to vote at all elections First He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month 29 Rhode Island Edit 1762 1842 13 South Carolina Edit 1790 13 Tennessee Edit 1796 1834 13 Vermont Edit 1776 and 1786 Constitutions all freemen having a sufficient evident common interest with and attachment to the community have a right to elect officers or be elected into office 30 31 1793 Constitution Section 21st Every man of the full age of twenty one years having resided in this State for the space of one whole year next before the election of Representatives and is of a quiet and peaceable behaviour and will take the following oath or affirmation shall be entitled to all the privileges of a freeman of this State You solemnly swear or affirm that whenever you give your vote or suffrage touching any matter that concerns the State of Vermont you will do it so as in your conscience you shall judge will most conduce to the best good of the same as established by the constitution without fear or favour of any man 32 1828 end of non citizen suffrage for federal elections but still up to 1977 for local elections 33 Virginia Edit 1776 Virginia Bill of Rights all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with and attachment to the community have the right of suffrage 34 1850 end of non citizen voting rights 13 Suffrage for those who intend to become citizens Edit Alabama Edit 1868 Every male person born in the United States and every male person who has been naturalized or who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States twenty one years old or upward who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election and three months in the county in which he offers to vote except as hereinafter provided shall be deemed an elector 35 1901 Every male citizen of this state who is a citizen of the United States and every male resident of foreign birth who before the ratification of this Constitution shall have legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States twenty one years old or upwards not laboring under any of the disabilities named in this article and possessing the qualifications required by it shall be an elector and shall be entitled to vote at any election by the people provided that all foreigners who have legally declared their intention to become citizens of the United States shall if they fail to become citizens thereof at the time they are entitled to become such cease to have the right to vote until they become such citizens 36 Arkansas Edit 1874 Every male citizen of the United States or male person who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the same of the age of twenty one years who has resided in the State twelve months and in the county six months and in the voting precinct or ward one month next preceding any election where he may propose to vote shall be entitled to vote at all elections by the people 37 1926 end of non citizen voting rights 12 13 38 Colorado Edit 1876 1902 13 Florida Edit 1868 Every male person of the age of twenty one years and upwards of whatever race color nationality or previous condition who shall at the time of offering to vote be a citizen of the United States or who shall have declared his intention to become such in conformity to the laws of the United States and who shall have resided and had his habitation domicil home and place of permanent abode in Florida for one year and in the county for six months next preceding the election at which he shall offer to vote shall in such county be deemed a qualified elector at all elections under this Constitution 39 1894 end of non citizen voting rights 13 Georgia Edit 1868 Every male person born in the United States and every male person who has been naturalized or who has legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States twenty one years old or upward who shall have resided in this State six months next preceding the election and shall have resided thirty days in the county in which he offers to vote and shall have paid all taxes which may have been required of him and which he may have had an opportunity of paying agreeably to law for the year next preceding the election except as hereinafter provided shall be deemed an elector 40 1877 end of non citizen voting rights 13 Idaho Edit 1863 1890 13 Indiana Edit 1851 In all elections not otherwise provided for by this Constitution every white male citizen of the United States of the age of twenty one years and upwards who shall have resided in the State during the six months immediately preceding such election and every white male of foreign birth of the age of twenty one years and upwards who shall have resided in the United States one year and shall have resided in the State during the six months immediately preceding such election and shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization shall be entitled to vote in the township or precinct where he may reside No Negro or Mulatto shall have the right of suffrage 41 1921 end of non citizen voting rights 12 13 Kansas Edit 1859 Every white male person of twenty one years and upward belonging to either of the following classes who shall have resided in Kansas six months next preceding any election and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote at least thirty days next preceding such election shall be deemed a qualified elector First Citizens of the United States Second Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization 42 1918 end of non citizen voting rights 12 13 Louisiana Edit 1879 13 Michigan Edit 1850 In all elections every male inhabitant of this State being a citizen of the United States every male inhabitant residing in this State on the twenty fourth day of June eighteen hundred and thirty five every male inhabitant residing in this State on the first day of January eighteen hundred and fifty every male inhabitant of foreign birth who having resided in the State two years and six months prior to the eighth day of November eighteen hundred and ninety four and having declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States two years and six months prior to said last named day and every civilized male inhabitant of Indian descent a native of the United States and not a member of any tribe shall be an elector and entitled to vote but no one shall be an elector or entitled to vote at any election unless he shall be above the age of twenty one years and has resided in this State six month and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote twenty days next preceding such election 43 1894 end of non citizen voting rights 13 Minnesota Edit 1849 1898 13 1857 1898 44 Mississippi Edit never 13 up to 1924 12 Missouri Edit 1865 1921 13 Montana Edit 1864 1889 13 Nebraska Edit 1854 1918 13 Nevada Edit 1848 1864 13 North Dakota Edit 1889 1889 1909 13 Oklahoma Edit 1850 1907 13 Oregon Edit 1848 1914 13 South Dakota Edit 1850 1918 13 Texas Edit 1876 Every male person subject to none of the foregoing disqualifications who shall have attained the age of twenty one years and who shall be a citizen of the United States and who shall have resided in this State one year next preceding an election and the last six months within the district or county in which he offers to vote shall be deemed a qualified elector and every male person of foreign birth subject to none of the foregoing disqualifications who at any time before an election shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States in accordance with the federal naturalization laws and shall have resided in this State one year next preceding such election and the last six months in the county in which he offers to vote shall also be deemed a qualified elector 45 1921 46 Washington Edit 1853 1889 Wisconsin Edit 1848 Every male person of the age of twenty one years or upwards of the following classes who shall have resided in this State for one year next preceding any election shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election 1st White citizens of the United States 2d White persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization No person shall be eligible to the legislature who shall not have resided one year within the state and be a qualified elector in the district he may be chosen to represent 47 1908Wyoming Edit 1850 1889 American Samoa amp the Northern Mariana Islands EditMain articles Elections in American Samoa and Elections in the Northern Mariana Islands Unlike the United States s other self governing territories American Samoa an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States since 1900 has not been given jus soli birthright citizenship either by incorporation or act of Congress for those born in its borders As a result people born in American Samoa or any United States Minor Outlying Islands are not given automatic US citizenship but have instead been given US nationality without citizenship 48 49 50 Residents of the Northern Mariana Islands gained automatic US citizenship via the Covenant with the United States in November 1986 but also have the option prior to reaching the age of 18 to reject US citizenship and accept non citizen US nationality instead 51 Under American Samoa law and Northern Mariana Islands law both US citizens and non citizen nationals may register to vote 10 11 making them the only jurisdictions at the state or territorial level that allow non citizens to vote and making their delegates the only members of Congress voted for by non citizens though those members cannot themselves vote in Congress because territories are not represented there in the Constitution 21st century EditOnly citizens clause Edit Map of US States where in their constitutions they specify that only U S citizens can vote As of January 14 2023 eight state constitutions explicitly require citizenship for voting Alabama approved by referendum in 2020 52 Arizona 53 California judge interpretation of state constitution in 2022 54 Colorado approved by referendum in 2020 55 Florida approved by referendum in 2020 56 Louisiana approved by referendum in 2022 57 North Dakota approved by referendum in 2018 58 Ohio approved by referendum in 2022 59 California Edit On October 28 2015 Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that automatically registers all citizen resident holders of a driver s license as a registered voter for all California ballots including federal elections Opponents expressed concern this could offer suffrage rights to noncitizen residents since a January 2015 legislation decreed the right of a driver s license to noncitizens 60 However as the Sacramento Bee pointed out people will need to attest they re citizens before being able to register undocumented immigrants applying for driver s licenses a right they gained this year will not be offered the option 61 Citizenship status is verified at the DMV when applying for a license 62 While voting as a noncitizen in a federal election carries legal penalties California Assembly Bill No 1461 63 removes legal ramifications from the State of California for individuals that accurately represent themselves and the DMV incorrectly registers the individual to vote which means a failure on the DMV clerk or system to properly execute the process of verifying the voter registration information for the individual Existing law makes it a crime for a person to willfully cause procure or allow himself or herself or any other person to be registered as a voter knowing that he or she or that other person is not entitled to registration Existing law also makes it a crime to fraudulently vote or attempt to vote This bill would provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote by operation of the California New Motor Voter Program in the absence of a violation by that person of the crime described above that person s registration shall be presumed to have been effected with official authorization and not the fault of that person The bill would also provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote by operation of this program and that person votes or attempts to vote in an election held after the effective date of the person s registration that person shall be presumed to have acted with official authorization and is not guilty of fraudulently voting or attempting to vote unless that person willfully votes or attempts to vote knowing that he or she is not entitled to vote This specific wording is added to deal with California Probate Code Section 18100 as is noted later in the bill describing good faith transactions with a trustee San Francisco Proposition N Edit In November 2016 voters in San Francisco approved a proposal to allow all parents of children in the San Francisco school system to vote in school board elections regardless of their immigration or citizenship status 64 Unless extended by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors the proposition is only effective for the school board elections of 2018 2020 and 2022 65 Voters rejected similar proposals in 2004 and 2010 66 On July 29 2022 ordinance 206 21 which allowed noncitizens to vote in San Francisco school board elections was struck down based on a judge s interpretation of California s Constitution 67 68 69 Critics such as Florida s Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam have used this proposition to generalize that noncitizens can vote in San Francisco 70 Former Congressmember Doug Ose has submitted a proposed ballot measure to state officials that would ban voting by those in the U S illegally 71 San Francisco s effort to get noncitizen parents to the ballot box in mid term elections in 2018 resulted in only 49 people signing up to vote Connecticut Edit An act concerning voting by resident alien property owners to allow alien property owners to vote at town meetings and referenda was submitted to the Connecticut General Assembly in 2003 72 District of Columbia Edit An Equitable Voting Rights Amendment Act was proposed and rejected in commission in 2004 73 Maine Edit LD 1195 An Act To Allow Noncitizen Residents To Vote in Municipal Elections was submitted to the 124th Maine Legislature in 2009 and was voted down 74 Maryland Edit Maryland ended noncitizen voting rights for state and federal elections in 1851 but its constitution recognizes the autonomy of local municipalities and localities on the subject Places where noncitizens can currently vote in Maryland Edit As of February 2008 one city three towns and three villages in Montgomery County have introduced bills to restore the right to vote to foreigners within their jurisdictions 13 75 Barnesville since 1918 76 Chevy Chase Section Three and Chevy Chase Section Five 77 Garrett Park since 1999 78 Glen Echo 79 Hyattsville since December 2016 80 81 Martin s Additions 82 Mount Rainier since January 2017 83 84 Riverdale since May 2018 Somerset since 1976 85 Takoma Park since 1993 86 Massachusetts Edit Three municipal assemblies in the state of Massachusetts have introduced bills to confer foreigners the right to vote The municipal assembly in the city of Newton introduced a bill to this effect in 2004 while Amherst and Cambridge did so in 1998 87 However as of February 2008 the proposals had not been approved by the state s assembly Minnesota Edit A bill for an act relating to elections proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution article VII section 1 authorizing local units of government to permit permanent resident noncitizens to vote in local elections was submitted on February 7 2005 at the Minnesota House of Representatives 88 New York Edit In New York City noncitizens who have children in public schools could vote in school board elections until 2002 Since then there are no longer elected school boards In 2021 New York City passed a law allowing legal immigrants the right to vote in city and borough elections 89 This law was struck down as violating the New York State constitution preventing it from going into effect but as of June 2022 the city intended to appeal 90 Previously bills had been submitted at the New York City Council and at the New York State Assembly in 2003 2005 2006 and 2010 91 Ohio Edit Yellow Springs Ohio passed a law by referendum in 2019 allowing non citizens to vote in local elections This was disallowed by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on the grounds that it was unconstitutional 92 The Ohio constitution was amended in 2022 to specifically exclude non citizens from voting Texas Edit A bill was submitted by Rep Roberto Alonzo in 1995 proposing a constitutional amendment providing by local option for a lawfully admitted resident alien to vote in an election held by a political subdivision 93 Vermont Edit Montpelier citizens passed a charter change on November 6 2018 that would afford full voting rights in municipal elections to any legal non citizens residing in the city 94 A similar proposal in Winooski was defeated in 2018 95 and passed in 2020 96 Approval for all localities was granted by the Vermont state legislature in June 2021 overriding the veto of Governor Phil Scott 97 References Edit 3 different United States Hooven amp Allison vs Evatt Black s Law 6th p 1533 a b 18 U S C 611 Voting by Aliens United States Congress Retrieved October 24 2014 8 U S C 1182 a 10 D Inadmissible aliens Legal Information Institute Cornell University Law School Retrieved April 25 2016 8 U S C 1227 a 6 Deportable aliens Legal Information Institute Cornell University Law School Retrieved April 25 2016 a b Xenophobia Belonging and Agency Citizenship in Immigrant America By Hayduk Ron Garcia Castanon Marcela New Political Science 07393148 Jun2018 Vol 40 Issue 2 Thompson Simon December 3 2010 Voting Rights Earned or Entitled Harvard Political Review Where are noncitizens allowed to vote in the US Retrieved December 31 2021 As of December 2021 update the 11 local governments allowing noncitizens to vote were Barnesville Cheverly Chevy Chase Section 3 Garrett Park Glen Echo Hyattsville Martin s Additions Mount Rainier Riverdale Park Somerset and Takoma Park 8 a b American Samoa Government Election Office Registration Requirements a b Register to Vote in the Northern Mariana Islands a b c d e f Raskin Jamin B April 1993 Legal aliens local citizens The historical constitutional and theoretical meanings of Alien suffrage University of Pennsylvania Law Review Southern Oregon University 141 4 1391 1470 doi 10 2307 3312345 JSTOR 3312345 archived from the original on November 3 2008 retrieved December 3 2007 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak Hayduk Ronald 2006 Democracy For All Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights In The United States Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 95073 2 Joe Mathews Syndicated columnist The San Francisci Chronicle Retrieved May 29 2018 You heard me California Give noncitizens the right to vote The Sacramento Bee August 4 2017 U S Supreme Court precedent is unchanged states can let noncitizens vote if they choose While Congress explicitly outlawed noncitizen voting in federal elections the door remains open for local and state elections And if America is going to call itself a democracy the country ought to have one state that is an actual democracy U S Supreme Court Minor v Happersett 88 U S 162 1875 retrieved December 8 2007 Raskin 1993 citing Rosberg Gerald M April May 1977 Aliens and Equal Protection Why Not the Right to Vote vol 75 Michigan Law Review p 1099 a b Raskin 1993 citing Aylsworth 1931 p 115 Raskin 1993 citing Braeman John Bremner Robert Hamlett Brody David 1968 Change and Continuity in Twentieth Century America the 1920s The 1920s Ohio State University Press p 229 Raskin 1993 citing Aylsworth 1931 pp 115 116 Raskin 1993 citing Aylsworth 1931 p 114 the entry Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1780 on Wikisource is not the original 1780 text but the present day amended text for the original 1780 constitution see A constitution or frame of government Agreed upon by the Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts Bay teachingamericanhistory org Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University March 2 1780 retrieved December 12 2007 Constitution of New York 1777 Historical Society of the New York Courts An ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States north west of the river Ohio July 13 1787 The Library of Congress retrieved December 4 2007 Constitution of Ohio via Wikisource Constitution of Pennsylvania September 28 1776 The Avalon Project at Yale Law School archived from the original on November 26 2007 retrieved December 11 2007 Constitution of Pennsylvania 1790 retrieved December 11 2007 The Constitution of Pennsylvania of 1838 archived from the original on January 15 2008 retrieved December 11 2007 The Constitution of Pennsylvania of 1874 archived from the original on March 11 2008 retrieved December 11 2007 Constitution of Vermont July 8 1777 The Avalon Project at Yale Law School archived from the original on December 13 2007 retrieved December 11 2007 Constitution of Vermont July 4 1786 The Avalon Project at Yale Law School retrieved December 11 2007 Constitution of Vermont July 9 1793 Vermont State Archives retrieved December 11 2007 Immigrant voting rights in Vermont Immigrant Voting Project archived from the original on August 8 2007 retrieved December 7 2007 Virginia Bill of Rights June 12 1776 The Avalon Project at Yale Law School archived from the original on June 4 2008 retrieved December 9 2007 1868 Constitution of Alabama Article VII Section 2 archived from the original on December 17 2007 retrieved December 4 2007 Constitution of Alabama 1901 Section 177 archived from the original on March 21 2008 retrieved December 12 2007 Constitution of Arkansas 1874 Article 3 1 archived from the original on February 6 2008 retrieved December 10 2007 Aylsworth Leon E 1931 The Passing of Alien Suffrage American Political Science Review 25 1 114 116 doi 10 2307 1946574 ISSN 0003 0554 JSTOR 1946574 S2CID 145134922 Constitution of the State of Florida Adopted February 25 1868 Article XIV Section 1 archived from the original on September 30 2007 retrieved December 9 2007 Georgia Constitution of 1868 Article II Section 2 archived from the original on September 14 2007 retrieved December 9 2007 Indiana s Constitution of 1851 Article 2 sections 2 and 5 archived from the original on July 21 2007 retrieved December 10 2007 Constitution of Kansas 1859 Article V section 1 retrieved December 10 2007 Constitution of Michigan 1850 Article 7 section 1 retrieved December 9 2007 Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State www sos state mn us Constitution of the State of Texas 1876 Article VI section 2 retrieved December 9 2007 Non citizens aliens voting rights in Texas retrieved December 9 2007 Constitution of the State of Wisconsin Adopted in Convention at Madison on the first day of February in the year Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty eight Article III section 1 Suffrage and Article IV section 6 Legislative retrieved December 9 2007 US Department of the Interior American Samoa Levy Uydeda Ray March 3 2020 Why some U S citizens won t get to vote for president because of where they live Mic com 8 FAM 302 1 Historical Background to Acquisition by Birth in U S Territories and Possessions U S Department of State Retrieved June 9 2020 8 FAM 308 3 Non Citizen U S Nationality in The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands U S Department of State Retrieved June 9 2020 Alabama Amendment 1 Citizenship Requirement for Voting Measure 2020 Arizona Constitution Article 7 Section 2 Paragraph A Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States Ballotpedia Retrieved February 13 2023 Colorado Amendment 76 Citizenship Requirement for Voting Initiative 2020 Florida Amendment 1 Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative 2020 Louisiana Amendment 1 Citizen Requirement for Voting Measure December 2022 Ballotpedia Retrieved January 14 2023 North Dakota Measure 2 Citizen Requirement for Voting Amendment Initiative 2018 Ohio Issue 2 Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment 2022 Mason Melanie October 16 2015 Here s how California s new voter registration law will work Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Jeremy B Whyte California voter law could register millions for a start Sacramento Bee October 20 2015 Driver License DL and Identification ID Card Information www dmv ca gov Bill Text Retrieved March 5 2016 Text of the proposal is here and election results are here scroll down to Local Measure N Non Citizen Voting in School Board Elections Lin II Rong Gong November 9 2016 San Francisco measure to allow noncitizen parents to vote in school board elections leading Los Angeles Times Immigrant Voting Rights in California Archived July 5 2008 at the Wayback Machine Egelco Bob July 29 2022 Judge strikes down San Francisco law allowing noncitizen parents to vote in school elections San Francisco Chronicle url https www documentcloud org documents 22123680 2202 07 29 lacy order granting writ of mandate responsive 1 amp title 1 Judge strikes down San Francisco law allowing noncitizen parents to vote in school elections MSN July 29 2022 Retrieved January 14 2023 Valverde Miriam September 15 2017 Can noncitizens vote in San Francisco Takoma Park elections politifact Myers John Former GOP congressman wants an official ban on noncitizens voting in California Los Angeles Times C G A Connecticut General Assembly Retrieved March 5 2016 Immigrant voting rights in Washington D C Archived July 5 2008 at the Wayback Machine Summary Retrieved March 5 2016 Earnest David C August 29 2003 Noncitizen Voting Rights A Survey of an Emerging Democratic Norm PDF Old Dominion University Barnesville Town Charter SECTION 74 3 Commissioners Election Qualifications The qualified voters of said town having resided therein for six months previous to any town election and being eighteen years of age shall Chevy Chase Section 3 About the Village Council Anyone age 18 or older who is a resident of Section 3 is a qualified voter regardless of citizenship or ownership status Town of Garrett Park Voter Registration Every qualified voter of the town is entitled to vote in all town elections whether or not they are a citizen of the United States Town of Glen Echo Town Election 2 Any person who is not a United States citizen and a is a resident of the Town of Glen Echo b is a lawful resident of the United States and c except for the United States citizenship requirement meets the voter qualifications provided in Section 501 a may register to vote in Town elections as set forth in Charter Section 506 Hyattsville MD Elections Hyattsville residents who are not U S citizens or do not wish to register with the State may use the Hyattsville City Voter Registration Form Hyattsville will allow non U S citizens to vote in city elections The Washington Post The Washington Post Village of Martin s Additions Village Council Election Process Non U S citizens are allowed to vote City of Mount Rainier City Elections section Voter Registration Any resident of the City of Mount Rainier who is not eligible to vote in the State and County elections but meets the voter qualifications set forth in Section 502 of the City Charter and applicable Charter Amendments may register with the Mount Rainier Board of Elections to vote in City elections 1 This includes those residents of the City who are U S citizens legal permanent residents also known as Green Card Holders holders of temporary visas including but not limited to work visas student visas refugees those with Temporary Protected Status and those who do not have formal U S immigration status Mt Rainier extends vote to non citizens Town of Somerset Who can vote in Town Elections A citizen of the United States of America or an alien legally authorized to reside in the United States City of Takoma Park Register to Vote City residents who are not citizens of the United States can register to vote in Takoma Park elections by completing the Takoma Park Voter Registration Application Non citizens aliens voting rights in Massachusetts the debate in the City of Newton excerpts from meetings of the board of aldermen and the programs and services committee 2004 2007 Retrieved December 12 2007 H F No 818 as introduced 84th Legislative Session 2005 2006 Maria Sacchetti December 9 2021 New York City becomes the largest municipality in the U S to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections The Washington Post New York City s Noncitizen Voting Law Is Struck Down Immigrant Voting Project Democracy for All Archived from the original on February 9 2012 Retrieved March 5 2016 Ohio Issue 2 Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment 2022 Non citizens aliens voting rights in Texas Retrieved March 5 2016 2018 Montpelier Approves Non Citizen Voting in Local Elections In U S News amp World Report https www usnews com news best states vermont articles 2018 11 08 montpelier approves non citizen voting in local elections Davis M 2018 December 10 Vermont s Most Diverse City Rejects Noncitizen Voting for Now Retrieved from https www sevendaysvt com vermont vermonts most diverse city rejects noncitizen voting for now Content oid 20697360Montpelier Approves Non Citizen Voting in Local Elections 2018 November 8 Retrieved from https www usnews com news best states vermont articles 2018 11 08 montpelier approves non citizen voting in local elections Gokee Amanda November 3 2020 Winooski approves noncitizen voting VTDigger Retrieved November 4 2020 Vermont Senate overrides vetoes of noncitizen voting measures approves housing bill General references Edit Earnest David C November 7 2003 Voting Rights for Resident Aliens A Comparison of 25 Democracies PDF Old Dominion University p 33 Retrieved June 8 2009 Hayduk Ron 2006 Democracy for All Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 95073 2 Hayduk Ron 2015 Political Rights in the Age of Migration Lessons from the United States Journal of International Migration amp Integration Volume 16 Issue 1 pp 99 118 External links EditCitizen Voters an advocacy group that tracks efforts to prevent non citizens from voting Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Non citizen suffrage in the United States amp oldid 1143120680, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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