Local elections in New York: immigrants with green cards can vote

Local elections in New York are in full swing. Tomorrow, June 22, primaries will be held, which will determine the main candidates for city elective positions. And although green card holders are not yet eligible to vote in these elections, this may soon change, and in the fall - in the main elections - about a million green card holders living in the city will be able to vote, the newspaper writes. Documented.

This can happen if the bill is passed. Introduction 1867, which is currently supported by 34 out of 51 members of the City Council. If the document is accepted, holders of green cards and persons who have a work permit in the city will be given the right to vote in local elections in New York City.

“These are the residents of our city who live here, work and study, they build their families here and pay taxes,” said Murad Awavdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "And now we are closer than ever to the adoption of this groundbreaking bill."

In one form or another, this idea has been circulating in New York since 2005. The current bill was introduced by City Council member Idanis Rodriguez in January 2020, but has not been submitted for consideration. Now there are 34 members of the council who supported him, and the chances of acceptance are very high.

Rodriguez, who has been a green card holder for nearly two decades, said the bill is designed to give the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers well-deserved respect who keep the city alive but are not involved in the democratic process chosen by his leadership, said the bill.

For Dolma Lama, a 24-year-old Nepalese citizen who lives in New York on a green card, passing the law will empower her community.

“Not having the right to vote in elections is the same as not having a vote at all. My community is not getting enough representation in the decision-making process, Lama said. "This is not only my story, this is our story, of all immigrants."

On the subject: Primaries, Early Voting and Registration: New York Local Election Calendar

Supporters of the draft hope to adopt it by the end of the year, which will give potential New York voters the opportunity to immediately vote in any local elections, possibly even in the mayoral elections of New York, if the document has time to be adopted by then (November 2).

Mayor Bill de Blasio did not say whether he would sign the bill if passed, but promised to "think it over carefully."

Most of the city's mayoral candidates publicly endorsed the idea, with the exception of Catherine Garcia and Ray McGuire.

The idea of ​​allowing lawful permanent residents to vote is not new. Currently, non-citizens are allowed to vote in ten municipalities across the United States. Nine of them are located in Maryland and one in San Francisco, California.