Aliens voting rights in the U.S.A.
Non-citizens (aliens)
voting rights in Massachussets
Non-citizens (aliens) voting rights in
Massachussets - the debate in the City of Newton
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/Aldermen/Dockets
& Reports/04062004report.htm
April 7: Programs &
Services; PS&T; Public Facilities Continued
April 12: Finance; Zoning & Planning Page 91
April 13: Land Use (Hearings and Working Session) Tuesday, April 6, 2004
7:45 PM, Newton City Hall
To be reported on
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2004
CITY OF NEWTON
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN
REFERRED TO PROGRAMS AND SERVICES COMMITTEE
#171-04 ALD. HESS-MAHAN requesting home
rule legislation authorizing local voting rights for permanent resident
aliens residing in Newton.
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/Aldermen/Agendas/documents/11-17report.pdf
CITY OF NEWTON
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2004
PUBLC HEARINGS
Chairman Johnson explained that Programs and Services does not have to
hold
Public Hearings on the following three items. However, as Chair, Ald.
Johnson
believes that when there is a proposal to make some substantive changes
to the City
Charter, that it is only fair that citizens have input. She mentioned
that the “TAB”
had made an error in reporting that item #171-04 had been approved by
the
Programs and Services Committee. The wording of the ordinance had been
approved but the item itself has not been approved by the Committee.
The reason
for the Public Hearing is to gather public input prior to a committee
vote.
#171-04 ALD. HESS-MAHAN requesting home rule legislation authorizing
local voting rights for
permanent resident aliens residing in Newton.
ACTION: HELD 5-0 (Sangiolo, Parker not voting)
NOTE: Background: Ald. Hess-Mahan explained this is a proposal
requesting Home Rule
legislation authorizing local voting rights for permanent resident
aliens residing in
Newton and allowing the right to vote in local elections to people who
are lawfully
admitted to this country on a permanent basis but are not yet citizens.
In order to be able
to vote in the state of Massachusetts you need to be 18 years of age, a
resident of the
municipality in which you are seeking to vote and also a United States
citizen. However,
since this a home rule state, it is possible through home rule
legislation to seek an
exception for Newton to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
At the last meeting, the Programs and Services Committee came up with
language that
tried to effectuate what it was that Ald. Hess-Mahan was proposing and
it was made very
clear that what we were seeking was local voting rights for those who
had been lawfully
admitted for permanent residence in the United States and who meet all
qualifications
except for United States citizenship and those residents may have their
names entered on
a register of qualified permanent resident alien voters.
It seemed to Ald. Hess-Mahan that if a person owns property in Newton,
lives here,
works and pays income taxes and is affected in their every day lives by
the decisions that
local elected officials make, they would have a stake in how the
community is run.
Newton is a community that is intentionally inclusive and prides itself
on its diversity and
it seems unfair as far as elections go. Ald. Hess-Mahan wanted to make
perfectly clear
that this would only be for local voting rights such as Board of
Aldermen, Mayor’s
office election, School Committee and the Newton Highland Neighborhood
Council.
Ballot questions such as an override would be included. The number of
people affected
would be between 2500 and 3000. One out of five people living in Newton
are
immigrants from other countries. Most of them do become citizens, but
it is a long and
arduous process.
Why is this being proposed? Ald. Hess-Mahan said he proposed this item
because when
he was running for election last year, many of his friends who happened
to be immigrants
asked if they could vote for him. Some came back to him and said they
found they could
not vote because they were not United States citizens. In a number of
other cities around
the country, including municipalities in Maryland, New York and
Chicago, non-citizens
have been allowed to vote. They all had slightly different rules
regarding residency, etc.
but the bottom line was if you wanted to vote for the local School
Board, School
Committee, City Council, Board of Aldermen, Board of Selectmen, in
those particular
places you were able to vote.
What is home rule legislation? President Baker explained that the
Massachusetts
Constitution has a “home rule” provision that gives
cities and towns independent
authority over certain matters unless the state legislature has taken
away that authority in
a particular area. The legislature has passed election laws that apply
to voting rights in
local elections; however, a city or town can seek an exception through
a home rule
petition, which is a request to the legislature to pass a
“special act.” Ald. Parker added
that a home rule petition is really “special
legislation” asking for an exemption from what
would ordinarily be allowed under state law.
What is a permanent resident alien? For these purposes, a permanent
resident alien
means the same thing as someone who is lawfully admitted for permanent
residence in
the United States. It is the understanding of Ald. Hess-Mahan that you
can come to this
country legally without being lawfully admitted for permanent
residence. In order to
become a permanent resident alien, a person would have to meet certain
qualifications,
including, among other things, being lawfully admitted and showing
intent to stay.
Immigration Attorney Rodney Barker addressed the question regarding the
issuance of
green cards. He said the only people who get green cards are permanent
resident aliens
and those who marry United States citizens.
Opinions of Members of
the Public
Kathleen Coll, 20 Fairmont Ave. Cambridge She is Director of Women
Studies at
Harvard, and the parent of two children in the Cambridge Public
Schools. Ms. Coll has
only lived in Cambridge for six years, but immediately after arriving
in town was eligible
to vote in local elections. Her daughters go to school in a city where
one in three is from
an immigrant home. She wanted to share the fact that Amherst was the
first town to
introduce Home Rule Petitions similar to Newton. Cambridge introduced
their bill two
full legislative cycles ago and is now ready to enter their third. The
election laws
committee and the state house have passed almost no laws out of their
committee. There
presently is in the House Council’s Office enabling
legislation being drafted that would
allow cities and towns to decide whether to permit non-citizens to vote
in local elections.
Greater Boston Legal Services compiled a list of the status of 22
different kinds of legal
immigrants that are not legal permanent residency status. One reason
that more than 22
states at one time or another allowed non-citizens to vote was they
thought this was the
best way to promote citizenship. If you get people who are immigrants
engaged in local
politics, that is the best way to make people feel like it actually
matters to participate in
local politics in this country. One thing to keep in mind, Ms. Coll
said that historically
there isn’t a privileged link between citizenship and voting,
not here and not in other
liberal democratic societies. Ireland will let any immigrant who
settles in their country
vote as soon as they settle in the municipality regardless of whether
they are citizen or
not; the same is true in Australia and New Zealand. Ms. Koll noted that
the first member
of the U.S. military to die in Iraq in the line of duty was not a
United States citizen. He
was a Latin-American who had permanent residency but was not yet a
United States
citizen.
Rodney Barker of 49 Woodcliff Road. He said he was interested in this
for many years
as he was a lawful permanent resident but not a citizen. He lived in
Newton for many
years paying taxes, sending his children to Newton Schools, etc. but
couldn’t vote. He
felt he was basically disenfranchised. Eventually he became a citizen.
The nature of the
lawful permanent resident is partly intent. You have to show when you
get the card or
visa that you intend to remain and live in the United States. If you
leave the United
States for more than six years, you have to prove that you are still
permanent. If you
leave for twelve months, the government can take your card away. If
someone is a
lawful, permanent resident, they are by their nature and by law a
resident and permanent.
He stressed that this bill before the board is only for lawful
permanent residents. Usually
it is a five year wait to become a citizen unless you marry a U.S.
citizen. To become a
citizen, there is a simple test consisting of ten questions and six
must be answered
correctly. Ald. Fischman questioned if it would be easy for the
Election Commission to
recognize an eligible person. Mr. Barker explained it would be quite
clear. President
Baker asked about the percentage of permanent resident aliens and Ald.
Hess-Mahan
responded that there are between 2500 and 3000 Newton residents who are
permanent
resident aliens who are otherwise eligible.
Tom Sheff, 454 Dudley Road. Mr. Sheff read the first eight words of the
l5th, l9th and
25th amendment, “The right of citizens of the United
States.” He continued to say that it
specifies citizens of the United States and also says a right which is
a privilege, a
privilege that the American citizens have that others do not have. In
his opinion, we lose
that right if we let this go. If this passes he feels that possibly in
30 years, it could be
agreed to make non-citizens vote in national elections. He said he does
have sympathy
for the immigrants, but when voting rights are considered, he felt we
have to take a look
at the ramifications of our decisions. In his opinion non-citizen
voting is a bad concept
because it would remove an incentive for becoming a U.S. citizen. He
continued to say
that the essence of citizenship is the right to vote and extending
voting rights to noncitizens
eliminates the last distinction between people who have accepted
permanent
citizenship and those who haven’t.
David Guberman, 185 Oliver Road. Mr. Guberman said he was broadly
sympathetic to
the proposal. He felt that an oath of allegiance to the United States
really doesn’t speak
to whether someone does or doesn’t have a stake in what
happens in Newton and perhaps
an interest in the common welfare of the community. With respect to the
specific
proposal that in one sense it is too restrictive and in another sense
felt it was not
restrictive enough. Simply by right of citizenship, Mr. Guberman said
he could move to
another community and in a few weeks be entitled to vote without having
any particular
stake even if he knew he would be leaving shortly. It seemed with
respect to non-citizens
that are not able to enjoy that right to vote that it is legitimate to
limit an imposition of
one or two year residency requirement so that would be clear that we
are talking about
people who have a stake in the community on a continuing basis. Mr.
Guberman felt the
proposal in its current formulation is not restrictive enough. On the
other hand, it is too
restrictive in requiring that the non-citizen be a permanent lawful
resident alien.
Ald. Hess-Mahan asked for clarification if his suggestion was for
two-year residency for
all registered voters; citizen or non-citizen or just for non-citizens.
Mr. Guberman
responded that the constitution doesn’t allow the imposition
of a residency requirement
of that length for citizens, but where we are talking about people who
don’t have a
constitutional right to vote, they don’t have a
constitutional right to vote in the same
terms as citizens who may be transiently in the city.
Rudy Riedl, 34 Waterston Road. He had concern that if this passes, the
same would
apply to national elections.
Tim Snyder, 25 Alden Place. Mr. Snyder wanted to speak in favor of the
proposal. He
noted that when he tried to encourage people to register to vote, they
couldn’t register
because they were not citizens. It is very difficult to build the
fabric of a democratic
community if large portions have no stake in participating in that
process.
Keith Hatfield, 29 Allen Avenue. Mr. Hatfield wanted to clarify that
permanent resident
aliens over l8 have to register for selective service and that they
would be subject to a
draft.
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us...
Services/2005/1-19-05 programs&services report.pdf
CITY OF NEWTON
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2005
#171-04 ALD. HESS-MAHAN requesting home rule legislation
authorizing local voting
rights for permanent resident aliens residing in Newton.
ACTION: APPROVED 3-0-1 (Baker abstaining)
NOTE: The Committee was joined for this discussion by Gayle Smalley of
the Law
Department and Peter Karg of Elections.
Background: At the time of our last discussion there were two
major areas for
discussion that Ald. Hess-Mahan needed to address. They were
1. a discussion of this item with the Election Commission
2. the question of whether this would enable permanent resident aliens
who can
vote to run for local election as well.
Election Commission: Ald. Hess-Mahan reported that he spoke
with the
Election Commission concerning the logistics of a special list for this
type of
election.
Mr. Karg said that Ald. Hess-Mahan came in and spoke to the
Election
Commissioners on January 6th and took many questions as to how the
process
would work procedurally. There was also discussion regarding the type of
process to be set up which would include registration and some type of
manual
list system. Presently there is a central voter registry maintained by
the state. At
the end of each election, lists are scanned in (each name has a
respective bar code)
to record voter activity. Because non-citizens are not included on the
central
registry, lists of permanent resident aliens voting in local elections
would have to
be compiled manually. Ald. Sangiolo noted that after the first list,
couldn’t each
voter be assigned a bar code. Mr. Karg said that every community in the
Commonwealth uses the central voter registry which does not include
noncitizens.
Ald. Sangiolo further asked why couldn’t communities
who were
adopting this permanent resident alien voting develop their own system.
Mr.
Karg responded that the state would not allow us to enter non-citizen
voters in
their system. Ald. Sangiolo felt it would be simple to develop a system
for
Newton. Chairman Johnson noted that resident aliens are included in the
annual
city census and felt that from a technology perspective, it would not
be a big
problem to set up a system.
Chairman Johnson concluded that there was no vehement
objection by the
Election Commissioners and Mr. Karg agreed. President Baker clarified
that the
policy question is strictly in our court.
Eligibility of permanent resident aliens to run for local
office if they are given
the right to vote in local elections: Ald. Hess-Mahan noted that Ald.
Baker had
questioned if someone could vote would be eligible to run for office.
The
response was yes. Part 1, Article 9 of The Massachusetts Constitution
requires
that “all elections ought to be free; and all the inhabitants
of this Commonwealth
having such qualifications as they shall establish by their frame of
government,
have an equal right to elect officers, and to be elected, for public
employments.”
Decisions interpreting this constitutional provision were
pretty clear that if you
can vote in an election, you can run for office. The other issue was
the meaning
of “inhabitant.” Inhabitants include all people
residing in Massachusetts cities and
towns, not just citizens. The Massachusetts Constitution requires that
all
inhabitants of cities and towns, including non-citizens, be counted in
the census.
Ald. Hess-Mahan noted that with respect to the policy debate
about fairness, if
you think back to pre Civil War, there were African-Americans that were
not
allowed to be citizens but they were counted as three-fifths of a
person for
purposes of representation in Congress. Similarly, today, in
Massachusetts,
resident non-citizens cannot vote in local elections but are counted
for purposes of
representation in the state legislature which he thinks is unfair.
Chairman Johnson asked if there was any risk in comparison to
a citizen who was
elected and lost his/her voting privilege versus a permanent resident
alien and has
his or her voting privileges taken away if they are gone for a period
of time. Ms.
Smalley said there was no provision in our charter to get rid of
elected officials
during their term of office. Ald Hess-Mahan said he felt the answer was
in the
section that stated that all inhabitants shall have the equal right to
elect and hold
office so if someone who is a citizen loses their voting rights the
same rule would
apply to permanent resident aliens
Voting rights at the state and national level: Another concern
people may have
is that allowing local voting rights for non-citizens now would mean
that the next
thing would be to allow non-citizens to vote in state and national
elections. In the
State Constitution, there is a specific provision which requires that
you must be a
citizen to vote for a state or national office. Accordingly, granting
non-citizens
voting rights in a state or federal election in Massachusetts, would
require a state
constitutional amendment. .
Home Rule Legislation Wording (see attached): The Committee
reviewed prior
language and Chairman Johnson noted in Section 2 that rules were
referred to and
she was looking for clarification for the type of
“rules.” Ms. Smalley said one
issue would be that permanent status can change and might require
voters to come
in and bring a copy of the documentation every so many years. There
would be
many practical arrangements in order to implement this as well as
authority to say
the right to vote is still contingent to registering this far in
advance. In our usual
registration, we are using a comprehensive set of state rules. The
Election
Commission would have to put some procedure in place.
Committee Member’s Opinions
President Baker feels that citizenship is the best qualification and is
cautious
about considering this docket item.
Since it often takes so long for citizenship, Chairman Johnson said
that it would
be encouraging to permanent resident aliens rather than discourage them
if they
could have some impact on elections. She continued to say that this
item is
worthy of discussion at board level and moved approval.
Ald. Baker noted that people pay taxes to all levels of
government and that by
itself does not give the right to vote. He agrees that there are good
arguments for
this but was not ready to join his colleagues and voted to abstain.
Ald. Hess-Mahan added the following information: according to the 2000
Census,
there are approximately 15,120 people who are foreign born and live in
Newton;
there were 6,051 foreign born who are still not citizens either because
they
haven’t lived here long enough or had not completed the
citizenship process.
Thus, a little over 9,000 foreign-born residents did become citizens.
Statistics
show that the vast majority of permanent resident aliens who come to
this country
become citizens eventually.
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us...ograms
& Services/2006/02-08-06prog&serv report.pdf
CITY OF NEWTON
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2006
#171-04 ALD. HESS-MAHAN
requesting home rule legislation authorizing local voting
rights for permanent resident aliens residing in Newton.
Item recommitted by Full Board on February 7, 2005
ACTION: HELD 5-0
NOTE: Ald. Hess-Mahan has spoken to Election Commissioner Peter Karg
and Associate
Solicitor Gayle Smalley at length regarding Ald. Vance’s
proposed amendment. Neither Mr.
Karg nor Ms. Smalley were present at the meeting. The proposed
amendment would limit local
voting rights to resident legal aliens who have applied for
citizenship.. When Ald. Hess-Mahan
went before the Election Commission there were several concerns. The
first one was how many
people would this involve. The rough numbers used were 2500 non
citizens, who are permanent
resident aliens in Newton who are of voting age. Presuming they have
lived here for five years,
roughly one-sixth of those would be eligible even to apply for
citizenship and not all of them
would. This would result in only a small amount of people being able to
vote and would involve
a large amount of paper work.
Ald. Hess-Mahan said there
is a piece of enabling legislation that is presently before the House
of Representatives which would allow cities and towns to opt in for
local voting rights for noncitizens.
At this point, the Secretary of State’s Office provides all
the support and voter lists, etc.
for cities and towns and is based on people who are citizens.
Information for non-citizens is also
available. When state senate and state rep seats are apportioned, it is
based not on the number of
citizens but the number of resident included in the census (including
non-citizens). The
Secretary of State’s Office has the information to create
non-citizen voter lists but is not required
to do so. A main concern is the burden imposed on the Election
Commission staff and
volunteers at each polling place if the proposed amendment were
approved, given the additional
paperwork and the relatively small number of voters who would be
involved.
Ms. Smalley told Ald.
Hess-Mahan that the Secretary of State, which oversees local elections,
were unlikely to approve a separate polling place for all eligible
non-citizens to vote in local
elections because it runs counter to the intention of state election
laws that all voters can vote in
the polling place for their ward and precinct. In discussion with Ms.
Smalley it was noted that
the structure of the election laws was not to create a special for
class of voters with different
voting rights. For example, the Secretary of State’s office
would not be willing to do create a
separate polling place only for disabled people. The smaller group of
people that would benefit
from this, the more cumbersome it becomes for the City to handle.
Another issue is proving that
you have applied for citizenship. To prove that you are a permanent
resident alien, you can show
your green card. Proving you have applied for citizenship is somewhat
more difficult. Another
issue is voter fraud. If you are a permanent resident alien or if you
are applying for citizenship,
if a non-citizen tries to vote when he or she is not legally allowed to
vote, deportation can occur.
President Baker said he could not support the item as it is currently
framed. Chairman Johnson
noted that she does support this as written.
The Committee voted to
hold.