Reconceiving Citizenship: Noncitizen Voting in New York City Municipal Elections as a Case Study in Immigrant Integration and Local Governance
New York City Council made some initial headway reconceiving citizenship, a measure to extend the franchise in local elections to qualified non-citizens was blocked in 2013 by the administration of former Mayor Bloomberg out of concern for the measure's constitutionality and feasibility.
The introduction of the New York is Home Act in the New York State Legislature in 2014 suggests that the question of municipal voting may soon be back on the agenda of the New York City Council. The Home Act would have granted state citizenship, including the right to vote in state and local elections, to noncitizens who have lived in New York and paid taxes for at least three years. Although some have argued that such a measure would constitute a restoration of noncitizen voting rights in local elections, the author of this article take a more cautious approach. She begins by providing a review of recent experiments with noncitizen suffrage in other parts of the United States, with special attention to Tacoma Park (MD) and Portland (MA). While agreeing that "powerful reasons exist for allowing New York City to extend the suffrage to noncitizens in municipal elections," the author notes that local officials must ensure that noncitizens do not inadvertently vote in federal elections. The author also looks at the question of whether New York City can act without first securing the permission of the New York State legislature. There is sufficient ambiguity in state law to suggest the need for a citywide referendum on the subject. However, such a course of action is a risky proposition and would have to be proceeded by a "well-orchestrated YES campaign." (Abstract courtesy of Dr. Nicholas V. Montalto)
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Gilbert, L. (2014). Reconceiving Citizenship: Noncitizen Voting in New York City Municipal Elections as a Case Study in Immigrant Integration and Local Governance. Journal on Migration and Human Security. New York: NY. Available at: https://cmsny.org/publications/jmhs-reconceiving-citizenship/