New Bill Aims to Give Voting Rights to Illegal Aliens in N.Y.C.
New Bill Aims to Give Voting Rights to Illegal Immigrants in NYC
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By Cathy Burke | Monday, 22 Feb 2016 08:16 AM
New legislation is reportedly being pushed to give illegal immigrants the right to vote in New York City's elections next year.
The New York Post reports Bertha Lewis, head of the Black Institute — part of a coalition of immigration-rights groups making the push — says a bill is expected to be introduced this spring.
"We want to expand the right to vote for everybody, not suppress the vote," Lewis said, the Post reports. "What a radical idea."
There are an estimated 1.3 million noncitizen residents in the city, about 500,000 of whom are undocumented. Neither group is allowed to vote.
Lewis sees such legislation as as an extension of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Municipal ID card offered to all residents — including those who are undocumented, the Post said.
"People want to come out of the shadows," she said, adding: "There will be a lot of support for it in the City Council. We want people to participate in civic life and be invested in what happens. It will lead to a healthier community."
But New York state's Conservative Party chairman, Mike Long, called the idea "outrageous," and charged liberals may be behind the effort to boost Democratic Party enrollment and "buy votes," the Post reports.
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'Radical idea' to let illegals vote in NYC
Black Institute: 'We want to expand the right'
Published: 16 hours ago
CHERYL CHUMLEY
New York City black and Hispanic activists are rallying around a proposal from an immigration rights’ group, the Black Institute, that would give illegals the right to vote for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president and city council members as early as the 2017 election.
The plan was just discussed at the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus gathering in Albany, and is gathering steam, the New York Post reported.
“We want to expand the right to vote for everybody, not suppress the vote,” said Bertha Lewis, who heads up the Black Institute, in the newspaper. “What a radical idea.”
The proposal is expected to be introduced for city vetting in the coming weeks.
This isn’t the first time an idea aimed at letting illegals vote has made waves in the city. Years ago, a councilman representing the Queens region, Dan Dromm, brought forward a bill to allow “lawful residents,” or those who held green cards but couldn’t vote, the right to cast ballots, the New York Post reported. That measure never made it to a vote.
But Lewis is pushing hard for her proposal, and is characterizing it mainly as an extension of the Municipal ID card given all residents, courtesy of Mayor Bill de Blasio, even illegals, that allows them the ability to conduct certain business in city limits.
“People want to come out of the shadows,” she said, the New York Post reported.
Not all are on board.
Conservative Party chairman Mike Long said it appeared the idea was aimed at reeling in more Democratic Party support.
“This is outrageous,” he said, in the newspaper. “American citizens have the right to determine the destiny of towns, villages, cities, states and the country.”
http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/new-york-...illegals-vote/
What Would Happen If New York City Went Forward With Letting Illegal Immigrants Vote
February 23, 2016
Hans Von Spakovsky
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Diluting the votes of ordinary citizens of New York City is fundamentally unfair. It encourages contempt for both the law and our election process. (Photo: istockphoto)
The New York Post is reporting that some members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus will be pushing for the New York City Council to pass a law allowing illegal aliens to vote in NYC elections for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president, and City Council. This is an anti-democratic policy driven by politics that dilutes what it means to be a citizen.
The U.S. Constitution reserves the right to set the qualifications for voters for both state and federal elections to the states themselves. However, the federal government has exclusive authority over immigration, and federal law makes it a felony for aliens—whether illegal or legal—to register or vote in federal elections. Every state has also banned aliens from voting in state elections, although a handful of jurisdictions like Takoma Park, Maryland, allow aliens to vote in local elections. Despite the federal prohibition, it looks as though the Obama administration’s Department of Justice is trying to prevent states from verifying the eligibility of voters by requiring proof of citizenship to register.
On the other hand, the Guarantee Clause, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, does state that “[t]he United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government[.]” Allowing someone outside the political community to vote would raise serious questions about whether state electoral procedures would be unrepublican and thus be unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court, however, has ruled in Luther v. Borden (1849) that this clause in the Constitution is a “political question” and thus is adjudicated not by the federal courts, but by the rough-and-tumble of politics.
The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The H
Assuming state law allows NYC to permit illegal aliens to vote in local elections, doing so is extremely unwise.
As a practical matter, this policy would encourage bad governance by NYC politicians. Specifically, city policies that provide handouts from the tax-paying legal citizen base to the illegal alien voting bloc would become more attractive. This policy would also encourage politicians to turn a blind eye toward the flouting of our nation’s immigration laws. This sort of disrespect for the rule of law has serious consequences.
Most importantly, this policy would raise serious questions about the democratic legitimacy of the NYC government. Allowing illegal aliens to vote effectively disenfranchises legitimate voters by diluting their votes. While allowing illegal aliens to vote might play well to certain interest groups and to affluent liberal voters, the interests of ordinary New Yorkers who oppose this policy (who pay the taxes and do the work that runs the Big Apple) will be sacrificed.
Diluting the votes of ordinary citizens of New York City is fundamentally unfair. It encourages contempt for both the law and our election process.
The United States of America was founded on the belief that citizens can peacefully come together and decide upon a form of government that is best for them. Our legal system rests on the belief that we have all come together as a part of this social contract and, when courts or the legislature make decisions, that the decision is something we have already agreed to follow. We have bound ourselves to this government and abide by its democratically legitimate decisions.
But when our government outsources its decision-making to people who have never peacefully and legally entered our political community, that makes our entire system of government appear despotic and unrepresentative.
Illegal aliens have not entered the American social compact, nor made a commitment to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and the U.S. cultural and political heritage. They should not be allowed to participate in our elections and potentially change the outcome of closely contested races. While it might be good short-term politics for some activist lawmakers in NYC, such a policy will harm us all in the long run and should be rejected.
http://dailysignal.com/2016/02/23/wh...migrants-vote/
