The Court of Appeals of the State of New York—the highest judicial body in the state—is hearing arguments on a contentious law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections. Legislation passed in 2022 would permit approximately 800,000 noncitizens, who are lawful permanent residents or authorized to work in the U.S., to vote in municipal elections if they have resided in New York City for at least 30 days.
Notably, the legislation was previously invalidated by the state’s Second Judicial Department, citing violations of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law. The decision upheld a lower court’s ruling. Concerns were raised that these noncitizens could represent as much as 15 percent or more of the electorate in some future elections, significantly impacting local election outcomes.
The move to enfranchise foreign nationals comes despite the Democrats claiming to be concerned about potential foreign interference in U.S. elections for years. Leading figures like Representative turned Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) have argued that “We must guard against and seek to deter all attempts at foreign interference, and ensure that American voters decide American elections.”
There is strong evidence that noncitizens voting in federal elections unlawfully due to poor vetting have changed election outcomes. For instance, researchers writing in the peer-reviewed Electoral Studies journal in 2014 estimated that 6.4 percent of noncitizens voted in the 2008 election, favoring the Democrats in numbers sufficient to materially alter the composition of the Senate.
