DISTRICT
D.C. prepares big test of noncitizen voting
Other localities struggle with turnout
BY STEPHEN DINAN THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The District of Columbia is preparing for the country’s biggest experiment yet with noncitizen voting, which has been on the books for nearly a year and will go live in its first election in 2024.
As of mid-December, the city said, three people registered — all showing up in person. Officials hope for more interest when online registration opens to noncitizens this year.
Jurisdictions across the country are testing the waters for allowing noncitizens, including illegal immigrants in many cases, to cast ballots in local elections. Most are finding scant interest.
San Francisco made waves in 2016 when it allowed noncitizens to vote in local school elections.
In 2022, about 300,000 residents cast ballots. Just 72 voted through the noncitizen system.
Maryland has the most jurisdictions practicing noncitizen voting, though all are small cities or villages.
Takoma Park, just across the line from
the District, is the grandfather of the idea. The city has allowed noncitizen voting for 30 years.
Takoma Park had 347 noncitizens on its rolls in 2017 and 72 cast ballots — a turnout of about 20%. That was the last year the city reported the data. It now shrouds the data in a joint figure along with same-day registrants and voters ages 16 and 17, who are also allowed to vote in city affairs.
Winooski, Vermont, adopted noncitizen voting in 2022. An election for City Council seats attracted some turnout from the “all-resident” voter list, but an election deciding a water district bond issue drew no all-resident voters.
City Clerk Jenny Willingham said voters who sign up on the all-resident list must answer two questions: They must affirm they will be 18 by Election Day and are residents on a permanent or indefinite basis.
She estimates 600 noncitizen residents out of about 8,000 people in the city.
“This is an initiative in our city, and I want to encourage people to vote. I’d like to get those numbers up more,” she said. “Right now, there’s 61 and I’m hoping for more.”
The system is supposed to be for legal immigrants, but like so much else in voting, that is left up to the residents to self-certify. Ms. Willingham said she doesn’t have the resources to verify the applications and trusts the voters’ oath that they are qualified.
Her office warns applicants that the voter rolls are public records and available for inspection, including by immigration officials. Ms. Willingham said one group showed up for an information session and backed out after an interpreter read that part of the application.
Noncitizen voting has a lengthy history in the U.S.
In the 19th century, what was known as alien suffrage was common. More than 20 states allowed alien suffrage in the years before 1900. Anti-immigrant sentiment fueled a retrenchment, and Arkansas became the last state to end the practice in 1926.
Nearly a century later, the idea is seeping back as immigrant rights advocates argue that noncitizens often have children in schools, pay taxes and use services and deserve a say in how such decisions are made.
J. Christian Adams, who runs the voter watchdog Public Interest Legal Foundation and is challenging the New York noncitizen voting law, said he figures the low numbers are temporary and advocates downplay registration to try to legitimize the practice.
“The key for them now is to open up the gate before they start cramming the sheep through,” he said. “Don’t be fooled into thinking this isn’t a big deal because only a couple people in Takoma have registered.”
At the state level, ballot proposals to limit voting only to citizens usually pass with strong support. In Louisiana and Ohio, roughly three-fourths of voters in 2022 backed bans on noncitizen voting.
Voters in more liberal cities and towns have usually embraced noncitizen voting. Burlington, Vermont, approved noncitizen voting with two-thirds in favor. Greenbelt, Maryland, adopted noncitizen voting in a referendum in November with more than two-thirds of voters in support.
In Rockville, Maryland, the idea was defeated, with 64% against it. An even larger 69% opposed voting rights for residents ages 16 and 17.
Federal law explicitly bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections, so jurisdictions that allow the practice for their elections must maintain separate lists.
Some cities worry that immigration enforcement officers might scour the noncitizen voter lists for deportation targets, though several local election offi cials said that has not happened.
Still, cities have come up with a defense.
Hyattsville, Maryland, pointedly corrects those who call its list a noncitizen voting roll. The term it uses is “city-only.”
Clerk Laura Reams said some citizens may be eligible to vote in all elections but, for whatever reason, don’t want to register with the state and choose to register and vote in the city contests. She said their names could appear alongside noncitizens on the city-only list.
Hyattsville, which like Takoma Park is just across the border from the District, said about 230 voters are on the city-only list. Some 17%, or about 40 voters, turned out in the city elections last year with a total turnout of 667.
Takoma Park also burrows its noncitizen voting figures inside its same-day registrant and younger voter data.
The District of Columbia election will be a major test for advocates.
The city will allow anyone who has been a resident for at least 30 days to register and cast a ballot.
Critics say that could include illegal immigrants and foreign diplomats for adversary governments. They will be voting only on city issues.
An attempt to derail the effort was launched last year in Congress, which has veto power over the capital city’s legislation. It cleared the House on a 260-162 vote, with 42 Democrats joining Republicans in support.
That suggested a real chance to block the city, but senators never took up the issue to allow the ordinance to take effect.
The Center for Immigration Studies calculated that 42,000 noncitizens, including perhaps 20,000 illegal immigrants, would be eligible
