A federal judge has upheld a Washington, D.C., law enabling noncitizens — including illegal aliens and foreign embassy personnel — to vote in municipal elections.
On Thursday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), the group that challenged the law, lacked standing. She argued they were unable to demonstrate measurable damage due to noncitizens voting and running for local office.
The complaint “does not include facts showing plaintiffs’ right to vote has been denied, that they have been subjected to discrimination or inequitable treatment or denied opportunities when compared to another group, or that their rights as citizens have been ‘subordinated merely because of [their] father’s country of origin,” wrote Jackson.
The D.C. Council passed the legislation in question — The Local Resident Voting Rights Act — in October 2022. It allows eligible noncitizens residing in the city for at least 30 days to vote in local elections and pursue local government offices.
The IRLI lawsuit argued that granting noncitizens the right to vote effectively dilutes the vote of every U.S. citizen voter in the district. This, the lawsuit argued, presents potential violations of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The plaintiffs sought an injunction to halt the law’s enforcement and prohibit the Board of Elections from registering noncitizens to vote or even counting their votes.
The decision comes as numerous states debate the extent to which noncitizens should be able to participate in elections. A judge in New York struck down a state law similar to D.C.’s Local Resident Voting Rights Act in 2022. In Florida, a federal judge recently struck down a law banning noncitizens from registering voters. In Texas, legislators recently proposed a law that would ban noncitizens from serving as election administrators.
