Green Mountain Times

Two Vermont towns have joined other municipalities across the United States in allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections, which bothers Jack Tomczak, the national field director with Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV).

“What kind of message is this to those who have earned the right to vote by earning their citizenship?” Tomczak told the Green Mountain Times.

The right to vote for legal noncitizen residents in Montpelier and Winooski came after the Vermont Legislature overrode Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the bill approving charter changes by the towns. Scott asked the Legislature in a statement reported by WCAX to "revisit the issue of non-citizen voting in a more comprehensive manner."

WCAX reported that Senate President Becca Balint (D-Windham County) emphasized "local control" in the Legislature's reasoning for allowing for non-citizens to cast ballots in Vermont.

The Winooski measure permits noncitizens to vote in both city government and school district elections while the Montpelier measure applies to only city government elections.

Tomczak said that the proposal to allow noncitizens to vote should have been presented statewide to avoid a patchwork of election laws.

“Not sure how they are planning to work this,” he said. “Will there be separate ballots for those voting only in the local elections?”

Tomczak is confident a statewide proposal would have been shot down by the voters. A nationwide poll by ACV shows 75% of voters believe only U.S. citizens should vote in elections.

Despite this, states are increasingly allowing their local municipalities to allow noncitizens to vote. Nine Maryland cities allow it, the San Francisco Board of Education allows it, and according to the Pew Foundation, Washington D.C., Illinois and New York City are considering the practice.

Tomczak said that those who support noncitizen voting typically argue that without that right they are paying taxes without representation. Tomczak, however, argues all Americans experience taxation without representation to some degree.

“Visiting another state and paying sales tax in that state doesn’t give you the right to vote in that state,” he said. “And a federal law passed in 1996 prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, yet many pay federal taxes.”

He said the real motivation behind allowing noncitizens to vote was to “muddy the waters,” and lower voter confidence, adding, “You have to be a member of the club to vote on the rules of the club.”

The Vermont state constitution outlines the voter qualifications for "freemen" and "freewomen." The Constitution states that every person "age of 18 years who is a citizen of the United States, having resided in this State for the period established by the General Assembly and who is of a quiet and peaceable behavior" is entitled to vote in the state of Vermont.