Defending Noncitizen Voting Rights
Defending Noncitizen Voting Rights in New York’s Highest Court
Civil Rights Organization and Noncitizen Voting Expert Champion Law Permitting Noncitizens to Vote in Local NYC Elections
Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) filed an amicus brief in Fossella et al. v. Adams et al., a case before the New York Court of Appeals concerning the legality of Local Law 11—a 2022 New York City law extending voting rights to noncitizens in city elections. LCR submitted the brief in support of noncitizen voting on behalf of Professor Ron Hayduk of San Francisco State University, a leading expert on immigration and political participation. The New York case has broad implications for the viability of noncitizen voting nationally.
Today’s filing informs the Court of the overwhelming historical support for noncitizen voting and outlines the importance of expansive suffrage rights in a democratic society. Local Law 11 is far from an aberration in the historical record; it is a continuation of statutes enacted in forty different states across American history that have enfranchised noncitizens.
For example, New York’s 1777 Constitution provided suffrage to all men with property and age qualifications, including noncitizens. In a similar vein, New York City extended the franchise to noncitizens in local school board elections from 1969 to 2002, when the city phased out community school boards. Today, at least seventeen jurisdictions allow immigrants to vote in local elections. Those include: eleven towns in Maryland (most since the 1990s); three towns in Vermont (2021 and 2023); San Francisco and Oakland, California (2022); and Washington D.C. (2022). While not widely known, these facts are now well documented.
Historically, there was a movement to end noncitizen voting driven by groups and public officials who scapegoated or targeted immigrants, contributing to widespread noncitizen marginalization. Local Law 11, and policies like it, are critical to overcoming the current wave of anti-immigrant legislation and discrimination now sweeping across the United States.
Voting is the bedrock of democracy. The acquisition of political power—especially through voting rights—has been a vital tool for all disempowered groups in American history to achieve greater economic, social, and civil rights. Moreover, studies show that increased civic engagement is correlated with greater individual and societal outcomes, including a stronger sense of community belonging, better health, and lower crime rates, among other indicators.
In support of our immigrant friends and neighbors who are under siege across the country, Lawyers for Civil Rights urges the Court to uphold Local Law 11.
Click here for the amicus brief.