New York’s top court blocks NYC from letting non-citizens vote

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state’s top court put an end Thursday to New York City’s effort to empower non-citizens to vote in municipal elections.

In a 6-1 ruling, the high court said “the New York constitution as it stands today draws a firm line restricting voting to citizens.”

New York City never actually implemented its 2022 law. Supporters estimated it would have applied to about 800,000 non-citizens with legal permanent US residency or authorisation to work in the nation. The measure would have let them cast a ballot for mayor, city council and other local offices, but not for president, Congress or state officials.

State Republican officials quickly sued over the law, and state courts at every level rejected it.

Republicans hailed Thursday’s ruling from the state’s highest court, called the Court of Appeals.

“Efforts by radical Democrats on the New York City Council to permit non-citizen voting have been rightly rejected,” NYGOP Chair Ed Cox said in a statement. The Republicans’ attorney, Michael Hawrylchak, said they were pleased that the court recognized the state constitution’s “fundamental limits” on voter eligibility.

A handful of Maryland and Vermont towns let non-citizens cast ballots in local elections, and non-citizen residents of Washington, D.C., can vote in city races. San Francisco allows non-citizen parents to participate in school board elections.

Farther south in California, residents of Santa Ana rejected a non-citizen voting measure last year. Some other states specifically prohibit localities from enfranchising non-citizens.

In New York, the state constitution says “every citizen shall be entitled to vote” if at least 18 years old and a state resident. The document adds that county and municipal election voters must live in the relevant county, city or village.

New York City argued that “every citizen” doesn’t mean “citizens only,” and that the city had a self-governance right to choose to expand the franchise for its own elections. The law’s supporters said it gave an electoral voice to many people who have made a home in the city and pay taxes to it but face tough paths to citizenship.

The GOP accused Democrats of violating the state constitution in order to make partisan gains. The City Council, which passed the law, is heavily Democratic.

Democratic Mayor Eric Adams neither vetoed nor signed it. Instead, he allowed it to become law without his signature, saying at the time that he believed “New Yorkers should have a say in their government.”

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