The U.S. House of Representatives voted on May 23 to nix the ability of noncitizens in the District of Columbia to vote in local elections, 262 to 143 with 25 members not voting on the measure.
“If House Republicans cared about elections or D.C. residents, they would bring to the floor the D.C. statehood bill, H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which would give D.C. residents voting representation in Congress and full local self-government,” said D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) after the vote took place. “D.C.’s Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 allows D.C. residents who are noncitizens to vote only in local D.C. elections. D.C.’s law is not unique. More than a dozen cities allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.”
Norton, 86, went on to say. “While the Local Resident Voting Rights Act Amendment Applies only to local D.C. elections, there is a long history in the United States, including before its founding, of allowing noncitizens to vote in local, state, territorial and federal elections.”
“Congress should keep its hands off D.C.,” she said.
Republicans had 210 votes with 52 Democrats joining them in passing the legislation. The bill goes to the U.S. Senate.
Norton said she will work with Senate allies to defeat the measure if it comes up.
The House vote took place a little less than two weeks before the District will hold its primary on June 4.
D.C. Noncitizen Voting
Essentially in the District, noncitizens can vote for any public office in the District except federal positions such as U.S. president, delegate to the U.S. Congress and the shadow statehood senators and representative.
The District joins municipalities in Maryland, California and Vermont that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Republicans in the House opposed the legislation, arguing that it is unconstitutional to allow noncitizens, including green card holders and undocumented workers, to vote in elections even if they have lived in the District for 30 days, according to a news release from the House Republican Conference on May 23.
In February 2023, the House passed an anti-D.C. noncitizen voting disapproval resolution with primarily Republican support, but it stalled in the U.S. Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) introduced the anti-District noncitizen voting bill after a federal court in March dismissed a challenge to the law by two District residents supported by the conservative-leaning Immigration Reform Law Institute.
One of the results of the noncitizen voting process was the election of Abel Amene as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in 4D02 in Ward 4. Abel, an Ethiopian immigrant who goes by his first name because of his culture, has become the first noncitizen to hold public office in the District.
Abel is a green card holder, making him a permanent resident. District government officials estimate more than 50,000 noncitizens are living in the city.
According to D.C. Board of Elections data, 513 noncitizens are registered to vote this year presently.
Franklin Garcia is a longtime Democratic activist in the District and a former statehood shadow representative. Garcia said the vote by the Republican-led House to nullify noncitizen voting doesn’t surprise him.
“It is the same situation now that has been in the past,” said Garcia, 55. “They [Congress] are meddling in our affairs. They did so with the Crime Bill and now they are doing it with this. This matter should be decided by the citizens of the District of Columbia, not by Congress.”
Garcia said there are flaws in noncitizen voting such as whether an undocumented immigrant should have the right to vote when they have been in the city only 30 days. However, Garcia said District residents and their elected leadership should work out those flaws.
“It is for us to decide, not national legislators,” he said. “I’m glad this bill is not going anywhere. The Senate is our shield on this.”