New York City’s Noncitizen Voting Law Is Struck Down

A State Supreme Court judge from Staten Island said the measure, which would have allowed more than 800,000 noncitizens to vote, violated the State Constitution. A state judge ruled that a move to allow noncitizens to vote would first require voters to pass a referendum.Credit...Andrew Seng for The New York Times Jeffery C. Mays By Jeffery C. Mays June 27, 2022 A law that would have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections in New York City was struck down on Monday by a State Supreme Court justice on Staten Island who said it violated the State Constitution. The measure, which was passed by the City Council in December, would have allowed more than 800,000 permanent legal residents and people with authorization to work in the United States to vote for offices such as mayor and City Council. But Justice Ralph J. Porzio ruled that the new law conflicted with constitutional guidelines and state law stating that only eligible citizens can vote. To give noncitizens a right to vote would require a referendum, the judge wrote. The law only applied to municipal elections and was not set to go into effect until January of next year. The ruling will have no effect on Tuesday’s primary election in New York. “The New York State Constitution expressly states that citizens meeting the age and residency requirements are entitled to register and vote in elections,” the judge wrote in his ruling. “There is no statutory ability for the City of New York to issue inconsistent laws permitting noncitizens to vote and exceed the authority granted to it by the New York State Constitution.” When it passed the legislation, New York City became the largest city in the country to grant noncitizens the right to vote, inserting itself at the forefront of an increasingly polarized national debate about voting rights, as some states began to expand eligibility while others went in the other direction, moving to explicitly bar noncitizens from voting. State and federal Republican Party leaders, as well as a handful of local Republican officials, later challenged the law in court, saying that it diminished the voting power of citizens and might prevent noncitizens from seeking to gain citizenship. “Today’s decision validates those of us who can read the plain English words of our State Constitution and state statutes,” said Joseph Borelli, a Republican councilman from Staten Island who was one of the plaintiffs. “Noncitizen voting in New York is illegal.” Proponents of noncitizen voting have worked for decades to secure the measure, and they vowed on Monday to appeal the ruling and encouraged the city to join them. They argued that although the State Constitution stipulates that citizens can vote, it does not explicitly exclude noncitizens from voting. As recently as the 2000s, for example, noncitizens were allowed to vote in New York City school board elections before the boards were abolished. Image Protesters at City Hall on Monday denounced the decision to strike down the local law. Protesters at City Hall on Monday denounced the decision to strike down the local law.Credit...Jeenah Moon for The New York Times “The State Constitution is a floor, not the ceiling, of who can be enfranchised,” said Murad Awawdeh, the executive director of the New York Immigrant Coalition. “We’re going to keep fighting so that nearly one million New Yorkers who are building their lives here and investing in our communities can have a say in their local democracy.” Joshua A. Douglas, a professor at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law who studies voting rights and election law, said he was surprised by the ruling because the State Constitution does not specify that only citizens can vote. Sign up for the New York Today Newsletter Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Get it sent to your inbox. “The New York Constitution says every citizen shall be entitled to a vote,” Professor Douglas said in an interview. “That’s a positive grant of a right, but it doesn’t necessarily mean only every citizen.” Yet even before the Council passed the voting bill in December, there were some, including Bill de Blasio, then the city’s mayor, who raised questions about the law’s constitutionality. Mr. de Blasio questioned whether the City Council had the power to grant voting rights to noncitizens, and he opted not to sign the bill into law. The former mayor, who is running for Congress, declined to comment on Monday. His successor, Eric Adams, also expressed concern that the law’s 30-day residency requirement was insufficient. Mr. Adams also chose to not sign nor veto the bill, effectively allowing it to become law after 30 days. A spokesman for the mayor, Fabien Levy, said the city was “disappointed by the court’s ruling” and was evaluating its next steps. Understand the Battle Over U.S. Voting Rights Card 1 of 6 Why are voting rights an issue now? In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, millions embraced voting early in person or by mail, especially among Democrats. Spurred on by Donald Trump’s false claims about mail ballots in hopes of overturning the election, the G.O.P. has pursued a host of new voting restrictions. What are Republicans trying to do? Broadly, the party is taking a two-pronged approach: imposing additional restrictions on voting, especially mail voting, and giving Republican-led state legislatures greater control over the mechanics of casting and counting ballots. Why are these legislative efforts important? The Republican push to tighten voting rules has fueled doubts about the integrity of the democratic process in the U.S. Many of the restrictions are likely to affect voters of color disproportionately. How have the Democrats pushed back? Democrats had hoped to unravel voting restrictions with federal legislation, but they weren’t able to secure enough votes to pass it in the Senate. An attempt to change the Senate’s filibuster rules to enable the passage of the bill also failed. Which states have changed their voting laws? Nineteen states passed 34 laws restricting voting in 2021. Some of the most significant legislation was enacted in battleground states like Texas, Georgia and Florida. Republican lawmakers are planning a new wave of election laws in 2022. Will these new laws swing elections? Maybe. Maybe not. Some laws will make voting more difficult for certain groups, cause confusion or create longer wait times at polling places. But the new restrictions could backfire on Republicans, especially in rural areas that once preferred to vote by mail. “The noncitizen voting law would bring thousands more New Yorkers into the democratic process and give them a true voice in determining their future and the future of their communities,” Mr. Levy added. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilwoman Shahana Hanif, chairwoman of the Immigration Committee, said they were disappointed because the law was an effort to enfranchise immigrants, most of them people of color, who contribute to the city. “Now more than ever, when our rights are being threatened, we need more civic and community engagement, not less,” Ms. Adams and Ms. Shahana said. Jerry H. Goldfeder, an attorney who represents the New York City Board of Elections in the lawsuit, said the agency would comply with the law if it is upheld. The lack of specificity in the State Constitution is something that some states are rushing to address. In 2020, voters in Florida, Alabama and Colorado passed ballot measures that explicitly limited voting to U.S. citizens. North Dakota and Arizona already specify that noncitizens are not allowed to vote in local and state elections. And voters in Ohio will decide in the fall whether to prohibit noncitizens from voting. On the flip side, several towns in Vermont and Maryland already allow noncitizens some local voting rights. And in San Francisco, noncitizens can vote in school board elections. The ruling in New York comes just days after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion and struck down a New York law that severely limited the right to carry a gun outside of the home. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she will call a special legislative session to consider changes to the gun law. Mr. Awawdeh said the noncitizen voting decision is an “extension of what’s happening at the national level” and part of an effort to “undermine and take away rights.” But Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, one of the plaintiffs of the lawsuit, called the ruling a victory for “election integrity.” “The committee will continue to lead the effort across the country to ensure only citizens can vote in America’s elections,” Ms. McDaniel said in a statement.Hina Naveed, a nurse and attorney who lives on Staten Island and is a defendant in the lawsuit, would have been allowed to vote in local elections under the new law. The ruling has made her more determined to be involved in local politics. “I may not be able to vote yet, but rest assured that I’m organizing hundreds of voters to vote,” said Ms. Naveed. “There are allies who can vote who are standing shoulder to shoulder to make sure that voices like mine are not silenced.” For more information, please contact us at: http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html