Thread: Proposal allows legal immigrants to vote in Brookline MASS.

Proposal allows legal immigrants to vote in Brookline

Posted: Today at 5:05 am EST
Last Updated: Today at 9:20 am EST
VIEWER VOICES: What do you think?

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The town of Brookline overwhelmingly approved a measure Wednesday that would allow legal immigrants to vote.

The proposal was approved after residents debated the issue for about an hour at a town meeting.

If it is approved by the state, the measure would allow immigrants who are at least 18-years-old, and have a visa or green card, to cast a ballot in local elections.

Non-U.S. citizens would be given the right to weigh in on everything from local races, to taxes, as long as the ballot questions are specific to Brookline.

According to the latest census, about one in eight Brookline residents is foreign born, and about half of them are non-citizens.

The proposal sponsor said that they should have a right to vote on local matters that would affect their lives.

“Increasingly the public dialogue has been about fear, and particularly fear of people foreign born and of others, and I felt that that was both unjust, pretty un-American frankly, and unfair. Brookline, with its rich international diversity, could really send a different message,â€

[quote="JohnDoe2"]Proposal allows legal immigrants to vote in Brookline

Posted: Today at 5:05 am EST
Last Updated: Today at 9:20 am EST
VIEWER VOICES: What do you think?

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The town of Brookline overwhelmingly approved a measure Wednesday that would allow legal immigrants to vote.

The proposal was approved after residents debated the issue for about an hour at a town meeting.

If it is approved by the state, the measure would allow immigrants who are at least 18-years-old, and have a visa or green card, to cast a ballot in local elections.

Non-U.S. citizens would be given the right to weigh in on everything from local races, to taxes, as long as the ballot questions are specific to Brookline.

According to the latest census, about one in eight Brookline residents is foreign born, and about half of them are non-citizens.

The proposal sponsor said that they should have a right to vote on local matters that would affect their lives.

“Increasingly the public dialogue has been about fear, and particularly fear of people foreign born and of others, and I felt that that was both unjust, pretty un-American frankly, and unfair. Brookline, with its rich international diversity, could really send a different message,â€