It was a long-standing demand of organizations defending immigrants in New York, the international city par excellence: on Thursday, December 9, the city’s municipal council adopted legislation allowing legal foreigners to vote in local elections. A first in a country where the question of access to the ballot box has again animated the political debate for several years.
A large majority vote in the city council
By a large majority (33 votes in favor, 14 against and two abstentions), the municipal council of the Big Apple took the plunge. The adopted text aims to allow “Legal permanent residents” and to “Persons authorized to work in the United States” – living in New York and not having American citizenship – from “Participate in municipal elections”.
→ ANALYSIS. In the United States, the battle for the right to vote intensifies
It is therefore a local decision, which by definition excludes participation in other elections (governor, Congress, president, etc.). Several elected Democrats nevertheless welcomed a vote “Historical”, just like associations defending the rights of immigrants. This measure could affect 800,000 people living in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx or even Staten Island, the 5 boroughs of the city, out of a total of 9 million inhabitants.
However, even on the Democratic side, some have expressed reservations. Like Mayor Bill de Blasio, who notably wondered about a possible dissuasive effect for access to citizenship. He also expressed doubts about the authority of the municipality to make such a decision, the elections being generally the responsibility of the state, that of New York in this case. If justice gives its approval (many elected Republicans have already announced appeals to the courts), the measure could take effect in early 2023.
The vote, a very political issue
This decision is a first in the United States for a city of this importance. It is not surprising that it intervenes in the cultural and economic capital of the east coast, land of immigration celebrated by the Statue of Liberty or the site of Ellis Island, through which generations of newcomers have passed.
The vote of elected New York City Council members also takes on a national dimension even as the question of the right to vote is once again at the heart of political debate, more than half a century after the victories of civil rights activists .
In the name of the fight against fraud, many States, in particular in the South, have made efforts in recent years to regulate the vote, even if it means harming the most disadvantaged (by limiting the voting hours, by imposing controls on the voting rights). identity, etc.). This effort has redoubled since the defeat of Donald Trump. The Republican Party has put forward the unfounded allegations of “Election flight” in 2020 to have laws adopted locally aimed, according to their detractors, at restricting the right to vote of minorities.
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