In an unprecedented action, the New York City Council approved legislation earlier this month that will give 800,000 noncitizen residents the right to vote in local elections. The New York Post reported:
After an unsuccessful 11th-hour attempt by more than a dozen Democratic and Republican lawmakers to send the legislation back to a committee to be adjusted, the bill passed the 51-member body 33-14 with two abstentions, sending it to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s desk.
The bill, sponsored by Councilman Ydanis Rodríguez, will allow hundreds of thousands of non-citizens to participate in local elections by expanding voting eligibility to green card holders — about 10 percent of the city’s population — and recipients of deferred action.
The legislation does not allow lawful permanent residents or people with authorization to work who aren’t citizens to participate in federal or state elections. People will be required to reside in the five boroughs for at least 30 days to be able to vote.
Nearly 800,000 New Yorkers are covered under the legislation, including 622,000 green card holders.
Republicans are pushing back against the New York City law.
Senator Marco Rubio has introduced legislation that would prohibit federal funding for states and localities that allow noncitizens to vote. Congressman Jeff Duncan will be spearheading the companion effort in the House.
Senator Rubio introduced the Protecting Our Democracy by Preventing Foreign Citizens from Voting Act to prohibit federal funding to states and localities that allow foreign citizens to vote.
— Senator Rubio Press (@SenRubioPress) December 15, 2021
Read more 🔽https://t.co/Fvn1oLvcVx
I love NYC
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 12, 2021
But it’s government is run by a bunch of psychos pic.twitter.com/dNdlSZBKfk
On the local level, Staten Island Borough President-Elect Vito Fossella has vowed to mount a legal challenge to the new law:
“One of the great privileges of being a citizen is the right to vote and as [borough president], I will initiate legal action to preserve the sanctity of the vote,” Fossella said this week. . .
“The qualifications for the right to vote are laid out clearly in our state Constitution. Extending that right to non-citizens is unconstitutional and simultaneously dilutes the votes of and devalues what it means to be a citizen,” Fossella added.
Fossella expects several other local Republicans to join him in the fight.
“Adding 800,000 new non-citizen voters to a system that has been made more complex by rank choice voting will increase concerns over fraud, undermining faith in the system while diluting the voice of our citizens in selecting their local leaders” https://t.co/CJCYwItF8e
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) November 30, 2021
Noncitizen voting is yet another ploy by Democrats to manipulate the American electoral system to their advantage. Implementing the policy in such a large city has the potential to create widespread problems for millions of eligible voters who would have their votes diluted by noncitizen voters.