Tue Jun 28, 2022 AT 2:11 PM EDT
A judge on Monday blocked a New York City law that would allow almost 1 million foreigners to vote in municipal elections.
Justice Ralph Porzio in Staten Island, N.Y., faulted city officials for side-stepping the state constitution to get between 800,000 and 1 million non-citizens on New York’s voter rolls. The law allows legal immigrants who are not citizens to vote for municipal offices in New York City, including mayor, city councilman, and comptroller. These so-called municipal voters can’t vote in state or federal elections.
Voting rights for foreigners in local elections are gaining traction in left-wing enclaves around the country. San Francisco has allowed non-citizen voting since 2017, as have a handful of towns in Maryland and Vermont, according to the Pew Research Center. New York’s City Council joined that list in December. The law was slated to take effect in January 2023. Read Full Story