From the Daily News:New York would be the first major city in the U.S. to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections under a bill before a City Council committee Thursday.
The bill would let immigrants living here legally for at least six months cast votes for mayor and other municipal offices.
The sponsor, Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Queens), said it’s unfair to deny voting rights to law-abiding noncitizens who pay taxes: “They contribute to society but are ultimately disenfranchised because they cannot vote.”
But Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) said the proposed six-month residency requirement is not long enough. “Someone in the country that short a time doesn’t have a stake in the future of the city,” he said.
Mayor Bloomberg opposes the bill, in part because it violates state law which makes citizenship a requirement to vote.
The Board of Elections said the noncitizen immigration bill would create a logistical nightmare — one ballot for local races, another for state and national contests.
"The Mayor believes voting is the most important right we are granted as citizens and you should have to go through the process of becoming a citizen and declaring allegiance to this country before being given that right," spokeswoman Evelyn Erskine said.
But supporters said the city has the right to determine who can vote in its own elections.
The Board of Elections said the bill would create a logistical nightmare — one ballot for local races, another for state and national contests.
21 comments:
what a piece of garbage this Dromm is!!!! Voting is a right for citizens of the US and he wants to give it away. These people never declare allegiance to this country so why should they be able to vote. A large majority of these immigrants are on welfare and bleed the system dry but they still keep their hands out asking for more and more and more. Whatever they can get for free they take and it's our hard working dollars and dumb politicians who reciprocate. Very few have given anything back to this country. Dromm is the biggest waste in politics and hopefully doesn't run for a state elected position.
Dromm is nuts! Legal citizenship first before there is any talk of a "right to vote".
This is what happens when civics and social studies are sidelined in schools in lieu of intensified test prep on ELA and math.
Civil rights, resident rights, and human rights are all different things. Though Vallone is right to disagree with the proposal, the reasoning that "6 months is not long enough" has nothing to do with the matter.
Rare as it is, Bloomberg's reason is the correct one. Citizenship is about a certain level of formal allegiance. It's a matter of responsibilities as well as rights.
This is a great indication of how totally out of control the city council is in NYC. God help us all when the likes of Daniel Dumb Dromm can come up with and actually defend this kind of lunacy.
An effort to ensure corrupt Dems keep getting elected.
Dromm always was a one issue phony from the get go...gay rights.
Maybe he ran out of gay voters in his district and needs his Hispanic illegals to make up the shortfall.
Look at the area he represents...Latino heavy.
To think that this man was once a teacher in the NYS school system.
Enough said about NYC politics and public education if this is what it produces.
He's just kissing up to his Spanish speaking constituency. A pol will bend over and do anything to get re-elected.
In Danny's case, he'll probably do that anyway.
Dromm is attempting to look "sympatico" to the Latino voters of Jackson Heights.
He knows this will never fly.
And his "sympatico" Latinos are too dumb to realize that they're being used by a Gringo.
Last I heard NYC was still part of NYS, and doesn't the state have a law about citizens and voting? Now that I said that, does this also mean that if the city council voted against the NYS SAFEACT THAT WE COULD CARRY WHAT EVER TYPE GUN WE WANTED?
Enough with this Fourth of July business.
Cinco de Mayo is our national holiday.
Not that I agree with this per se, but there was a long history of non-citizens being able to vote in this country, through the 19th Century and into the 20th. So the idea isn't entirely radical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_foreigners_to_vote_in_the_United_States
Yes, Ridgewoodian...
and Boss Tweed "enrolled" them to vote for him!
That's why this is known as the tweeder borough.
The pols get paid while the voters get laid!
Notice, I'm being polite this time and not using the "F" word. Anyway it wouldn't rhyme as good.
Why its bad
1. absentee residents in Manhattan - the so called cosmopolitans. The will continue to hijack the city's resources as a backdrop for their lives.
2. illegal immigrants will vote for the proverbial chicken in the pot without any concern as to who pays for it.
3. with only a shadowy link to the community, manufactured IDs can make one a resident of 10, 20, 30 communities.
recently the local Dist. 19 property taxpayers were out voted for discretionary funds to repair sidewalks, curbs etc, by the 16 age plus education public school voters. they won "smart" computing devices.
the d.o.e receives $21,billion per year from the taxpayers.
when a majority of the freeloaders vote, the minority (YOU)GET SHAFTED.
AL YOU CAN DO IS BE FORCED TO PAY FOR THE "fix".
wait untill dromm gets his way ??????
All politicians are to blame for selling the Unites States of America down the river....all for the almighty vote.
All should go to Hell in shame!
Dromm needs to listen to the Real Americans who matter and not just pick up cheap votes in order to save his job!
What a jerk.
Have a look at Dromm's District 25 Map
It may be the case that more non-citizens would be voting than citizens. It makes American citizens a political minority in their own country.
As of course, as citizens, of Mexico, China, India, etc. they get to vote where they are really citizens. In fact in Jackson Heights, the reps of Mexican candidates have a get out the vote effort for the citizens of Mexico living in Queens to vote in Mexican presidential elections. It's a two-for-the-price-of-one deal.
Maybe he ran out of gay voters in his district and needs his Hispanic illegals to make up the shortfall.
Indeed.
Remember, this is also the same guy who ENDORSED the Ground Zero Mosque!
If he can pander to members of the "religion of peace" for votes, he definitely has no qualms pandering to "wise Latinos".
Not that I agree with this per se....
Don't let the boy from Ridgewood fool you!
He definitely supports this measure, along with all the other standard Democratic Party issues oozing from Tammany Hall.
I like Danny but gay rights is only one issue amonst the hundreds that need to be prioritized for that neighborhood.
WTF!!!!!!!!!
In the European Union non citizens from other EU countries have the right to vote in local elections whatever eu country they live in as long as they've lived there for a year. It doesn't seem to be a problem there. There is no reason why this needs to be a logistical problem, just have paper ballots available for non citizen voters. Our problem in NYC is not too many voters but too few. In some of the primaries and special elections, less than 20% of registered voters bother to turn out. If Americans refuse to be bothered, why should they have a problem with others stepping up?
Yes, paper ballots. Can't see anything going wrong there.
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