New York Appeals Court Blocks NYC Noncitizen Voting Law, Siding with Republicans David Zimmerman
New York’s highest court on Thursday blocked a New York City law that would have allowed noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, upholding lower court rulings that sided with Republicans who challenged the measure.
In January 2022, New York City became the first major city in the nation to grant municipal voting rights to noncitizens after the the City Council passed the law in late 2021. The measure, however, was never fully implemented due to a legal challenge led by Republicans. If the challenge failed, more than 800,000 green card holders would have been allowed to vote in local elections, such as mayoral races.
The historically progressive New York Court of Appeals struck down the law by a 6-1 margin, concluding the New York constitution only allows citizens to vote.
While Republicans argued all noncitizens are prohibited from casting ballots, Democrats said the law should be interpreted as a floor instead of a ceiling. From that perspective, local governments could hypothetically expand voter eligibility to whomever they wish. The appeals court disagreed with this argument.
“Under that interpretation, municipalities are free to enact legislation that would enable anyone to vote – including . . . thirteen-year-old children,” Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote for the majority opinion.
“It is plain from the language and restrictions contained in [the state constitution] that ‘citizen’ is not meant as a floor, but as a condition of voter eligibility: the franchise extends only to citizens whose right to vote is established by proper proofs and who vote by ballot,” Wilson continued.
The law in question was approved before former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who questioned the law’s constitutionality himself, left office. After de Blasio and Mayor Eric Adams declined to veto it, the legislation automatically took effect. Thursday’s decision affirms two lower court rulings in the past three years.
Curtis Sliwa, who is running for the Republican nomination in New York City’s mayoral election this year, praised the court’s decision and cast it as an opportunity to convince citizen New Yorkers to vote.
“With one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country, our city needs to do more to engage working people who feel shut out of the process,” Sliwa said in a statement following the release of the court’s opinion. “Before expanding voting rights to noncitizens, we should focus on ensuring that more New Yorkers feel their voices matter. Too many hardworking people in this city have given up on politics because they believe the system doesn’t work for them.”
“Instead of rushing to change voting laws, we should be asking why so many eligible New Yorkers don’t vote,” the Republican mayoral candidate added. “Let’s start by making sure the people already here, who work, pay taxes, and struggle to get by, feel like they have a real stake in our city’s future.”
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