A New York City law would’ve allowed an estimated 800,000 non-citizens to vote in municipal elections, but the state’s highest court ruled Thursday that doing so would violate the state’s constitution.
“In January 2022, New York became the first big city in the country to grant rights to some noncitizens to vote for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President and City Council Member,” local station ABC 7 recalls.
On Thursday, however, the New York Court of Appeals ruled 6-1 that the state constitution restricted voting rights to citizens, siding with the lawsuit by a Republican National Committee-led coalition, which included a Democrat city council member and U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).
The court ruled that it’s "a condition of voter eligibility: the franchise extends only to citizens whose right to vote is established by proper proofs and who vote by ballot."
"Americans have fought over the meaning of citizenship and the right to vote since the earliest days of our Republic," Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote in the 23-page ruling for the majority. "Whatever the future may bring, the New York Constitution as it stands today draws a firm line restricting voting to citizens."
“No noncitizens in New York City ever cast a vote under the law, as it quickly was challenged in the courts,” The New York Post reports, noting that “Even progressive then-Mayor Bill de Blasio said he couldn’t support the bill, leaving it unsigned as he left office for his successor Eric Adams to handle.”
While Mayor Adams supported the bill, he didn’t sign it. Still, since he didn’t veto it either, it eventually became law, where it remained on hold pending resolution of the lawsuit filed immediately after its passage.