(PatriotSpotlight.org) – On Thursday, May 23rd the U.S. House of Representatives approved a controversial bill geared toward barring non-U.S. citizens from voting in Washington, D.C.’s local elections. The measure, which was approved by a major margin of 262 yes votes to 143 no, would overturn a 2022 D.C. Council law that granted municipal election and ballot initiative voting rights to eligible noncitizens.
This bill would completely forbid noncitizens from taking part in local votes given that federal law prohibits them from federal voting. The GOP spearheaded this move, warning that partly enfranchising noncitizens undermined the integrity of the U.S. capital. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has previously stated his fierce opposition to the current D.C. law, referring to it as “lawless behavior.”
Although some Democrats backed a reversal of the change, the debate has promoted sharp divisions with many Democrats, led by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), slamming the move as both “paternalistic” and “undemocratic”. Speaking on the House floor Norton complained that D.C. residents, who she said were largely “ Black and brown” had a right to self-government.
Although the issue has prompted major political controversy, statistics currently suggest that the impact of noncitizen residents casting such votes is negligible, with just 32 non-citizens registering to vote in D.C.’s last local elections earlier in 2024. Other cities with similar rules show a similar lack of engagement, with only 86 noncitizens voting in Vermont’s March 2023 local elections last March, and 31 noncitizens cast their ballots in a 2020 San Francisco poll.
This latest bid to restrict noncitizen voting in the district is just the latest move in a wider trend. Just 16 cities and towns across the U.S. currently allow noncitizen voting in local elections, and six states have brought forward bans on the practice. The constitutional provision permitting U.S. states to arrange the time, place, and manner of elections naturally does not apply to the District of Columbia, over which the Home Rule Act allows Congress the powers of oversight.
This new bill’s passage marks another Republican-led hit back at D.C. legislation, with Congress blocking a police accountability law passed by its city council last year. The law eventually passed after President Biden issued a veto, claiming the reform was too important to be ditched.
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