A D.C. Council committee has taken a radical step in advancing a measure that would legalize noncitizen voting in the District of Columbia. As John Fund pointed out earlier this year when a federal court struck down a New York City law that permitted noncitizen voting, noncitizen voting is part of the Left's agenda to change the U.S. voting system:

The New York law is part of a nationwide push to blur the very meaning of citizenship and promote noncitizen voting everywhere and for all offices.

There are few limits on how far the woke Left will go to change the rules of voting. In 2019, a majority of House Democrats voted to lower the federal voting age to 16 years, from 18.

The very notion of noncitizen voting is fraught with peril, especially in a big city such as New York. Few experts believe that, in a place where noncitizen voting is allowed, there would be effective enforcement of laws still barring illegal aliens from voting.

But the proposed D.C. law would take things a step further than the New York City law did and explicitly allow for illegal aliens to vote:

The Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety approved the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 and an amendment to the bill clarifying that the measure applies to both illegal immigrants and those with legal permanent residency.

“We should be welcoming new voices and making voting more accessible to those who are not traditionally represented — not restricting voting to those who have already held power,” the committee wrote in a report accompanying the bill. “The committee believes that expanding the right to vote in our local elections to all non-citizen residents of the District makes a strong statement in support of these D.C. values. Allowing our non-citizen neighbors, many of whom have lived and worked in the District for decades, to participate in our elections can only strengthen our democracy and our communities.”

Unfortunately, federal law leaves the door open for localities to allow noncitizen voting:

The 1993 Motor Voter Act made it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, but it did provide room for states and localities to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. Despite the possibility of a year in jail and certain deportation, significant numbers of noncitizens already vote illegally in federal elections every cycle. A 2014 study found that 6.4% of noncitizens voted in the 2008 election and 2.2% voted in the 2010 midterm elections. The authors concluded that because of the close margins in some Senate races, illegal noncitizen voting likely gave Democrats the 60th vote they needed to pass the Affordable Care Act.

No wonder Democrats are so eager to get more noncitizens in the habit of voting.

Noncitizen voting is a dangerous practice that should be opposed. It devalues U.S. citizenship and opens up the democratic process to outside influences.