Mon | Jul 6, 2026

New law allows non-citizens to vote

Published:Monday | January 10, 2022 | 12:07 AM
New York City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez speaks during a rally on the steps of City Hall in December 2021 ahead of a City Council vote to allow lawful, permanent residents to cast votes in elections to pick the mayor, City Council members and other mu
AP
New York City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez speaks during a rally on the steps of City Hall in December 2021 ahead of a City Council vote to allow lawful, permanent residents to cast votes in elections to pick the mayor, City Council members and other municipal office holders.

NEW YORK (AP):

More than 800,000 non-citizens and ‘Dreamers’ in New York City will have access to the ballot box – and could vote in municipal elections as early as next year –after Mayor Eric Adams allowed legislation to automatically become law on Sunday.

Opponents have vowed to challenge the new law, which the City Council approved a month ago. Unless a judge halts its implementation, New York City is the first major US city to grant widespread municipal voting rights to non-citizens.

More than a dozen communities across the US already allow non-citizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont.

Non-citizens still wouldn’t be able to vote for a president or members of Congress in federal races, or in the state elections that pick the governor, judges and legislators.

The Board of Elections must now begin drawing an implementation plan by July, including voter registration rules and provisions that would create separate ballots for municipal races to prevent non-citizens from casting ballots in federal and state contests.

It’s a watershed moment for the nation’s most populous city, where legally documented, voting-age non-citizens comprise nearly one in nine of the city’s seven million voting-age inhabitants. The movement to win voting rights for non-citizens prevailed after numerous setbacks.

The measure would allow non-citizens who have been lawful, permanent residents of the city for at least 30 days, as well as those authorised to work in the US, including Dreamers, to help select the city’s mayor, city council members, borough presidents, comptroller and public advocate.

Dreamers are young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children who would benefit from the never-passed DREAM Act or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, which allows them to remain in the country if they meet certain criteria.

The first elections in which non-citizens would be allowed to vote are in 2023.

“We build a stronger democracy when we include the voices of immigrants,” said former City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez, who led the charge to win approval for the legislation.

Rodriguez, who Adams appointed as his transportation commissioner, thanked the mayor for his support and expects a vigorous defence against any legal challenges.