Green Mountain Times

Americans for Citizen Voting issued the following press release on June 24:

The Vermont Legislature voted to override Governor Scott's vetoes of H.177 and H.227 allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections in Montpelier and Winooski. Today, the Senate voted 20-10 to override the governor’s veto, after the House voted 103-47 on Tuesday to override it.

“The Vermont Constitution is clear that the right to vote belongs to citizens. If the legislature wants to grant non-citizens the right to vote it should put this issue in front of all of Vermont's voters and amend the Constitution," stated Christopher Arps, president of Americans for Citizen Voting. "We respect the voters of Montpelier and Winooski but every Vermonter should get to weigh in on this."

Arps warned that Vermont is creating a two-tier system where non-citizens are treated differently depending on where in the state they reside.

“Allowing non-citizens to vote undermines that essential element of citizenship,” Arps wrote in a letter to legislators. “Granting the vote to those who have not made the commitment to become U.S. citizens is a slap in the face to the immigrants who have made that commitment.”

Americans for Citizen Voting is a non-partisan nonprofit dedicated to protecting the right to vote for American citizens.