The highest court in New York State, the Court of Appeals, has an easy case before the seven judges today: They should uphold the lower court rulings that the City Council went too far in granting the right to vote in local elections to certain documented noncitizens, such as permanent residents.
We actually agree with the sentiment in wanting to allow noncitizens like green card holders to vote in municipal elections, after all they live here legally and pay taxes so should they have a say in electing Councilmembers and the like. But we also strongly support those same people applying for and obtaining U.S. citizenship, which would bring with it voting in state and federal elections as well.
The problem with the Council’s voting bill, as we pointed out years ago, is that the New York State Constitution clearly states: “Every citizen shall be entitled to vote at every election for all officers elected by the people.” And it’s pretty obvious to everyone, or it should be, that noncitizens are not citizens.
So in order to extend the franchise to these 800,000 New Yorkers, the state Constitution needed to be amended. And the Council has no power to amend the Constitution. Only the Legislature in Albany can start that intentionally onerous process. It requires passage by both the state Senate and the Assembly of the proposed change. And then that must be repeated following the election of a new Legislature, with a new Senate and Assembly also passing the amendment. The final step is a public statewide referendum. And sometimes the public says no.
Staten Island state Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio said the Council’s voting bill violated the state Constitution in June 2022. The Brooklyn Appellate Court said the same thing with a 3 to 1 decision last February. Now the top court judges will have their say. The reasoning throughout is the same: noncitizens are not citizens.
This is very different from the scary specter warned by House Speaker Mike Johnson of armies of undocumented immigrants voting for Congress and president and his efforts to make it illegal under federal law. It is illegal under federal and state law and there is little evidence of it occurring anywhere. But that doesn’t bother Johnson.
Rather, what the Council was attempting to do related to legal immigrants who have full rights to be working and living here. Green card holders, who have everything except the oath of naturalization, have the same rights and responsibilities as citizens except for jury duty and voting in federal and state elections. The Council bill wouldn’t have changed any of that, but would have given the vote to those immigrants in municipal elections only.
But as the various judges have ruled, the state Constitution says otherwise. No matter if you are pro-immigration or pro-immigration, that doesn’t change. Neither former Mayor Bill de Blasio nor incumbent Mayor Adams signed the Council bill; as both mayors were getting good legal advice. The Constitution is very clear.
If the Court of Appeals decides the same way, as we expect they will, then the years-long process ends up back where we began. All the Council would have done is wasted time and money on a fruitless effort. It wouldn’t be their first time.