As we approach the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, lawmakers will consider a bill to make New York City the first major city in the nation to restore municipal voting rights to all residents, regardless of their citizenship status. The bill would establish a “municipal voter” program in which all voting age city residents, including over 1 million legally residing noncitizens, would gain the right to vote in elections for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council. This group includes residents with green cards, student and worker visas, and those with refugee or asylum status.

The Idea is Simple: All New Yorkers Deserve a Voice in City Government

Noncitizens, who make up over 22% of NYC’s voting age population or 1 in 5 adult residents, are stakeholders in every decision made at the city level. They send their children to public schools; take public transportation; shop at and own businesses; and use libraries, parks, and other city services. Along with other immigrants, they pay over $18.2 billion in New York State income taxes. In 2011 alone, they accounted for $210 billion in economic activity, about 31% of the total Gross City Product (GCP). Despite their countless contributions to the economic, cultural, and social life of NYC, noncitizens lack the power chose who will allocate their tax dollars and make the policy decisions that impact their lives and the lives of their families.

“We Can’t Ignore Them if They Can Vote”

According to advocates, the problem with depriving 1 in 5 New Yorkers from the right to vote is that when you don’t have the right to vote, you tend to get overlooked. Council Member Daniel Dromm, the bill’s lead sponsor, whose district includes parts of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst puts it poignantly, “Enfranchising non-citizens would make communities like mine more important to city-wide and state officials,” he said. “We can’t ignore them if they can vote.”

“As American as Apple Pie”

It’s understandable that for some readers, the idea of noncitizen voting may sound like a contradiction in terms, but consider that citizenship has not always been a requisite for voting rights. In fact, for the first 150 years of American history, noncitizens had the right to vote and voted in elections in 40 states. It wasn’t until the late 1920s in a frenzy of post-war anti-immigrant hysteria that the right to vote became exclusive for citizens. This loss of voting rights coincided with the disenfranchisement of other minority groups through means such as literacy tests, poll taxes, restrictive residency requirements, and voter registration procedures. As historian and professor of Political Science at Queens College Ron Hayduk, points out, noncitizen voting has been the “Norm not the exception. It is as American as apple pie and is older than our national pastime (baseball).”

The Political Feasibility Has Never Been Higher

This is not the first time a bill to expand voting rights to noncitizens has come before the City Council. Introduction 410, also called the “NYC Voting Rights Restoration Act of 2010,” received 32 cosponsors, a veto proof-majority, but was opposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and because of political obstruction died in committee. The 2013 citywide election and the election of Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, created an unprecedented opportunity to pass the bill currently under consideration. Speaker Mark-Viverito, a cosponsor of Intro 410, has publically stated that she will “continue to be supportive.” In addition, membership in the Council’s Progressive Caucus, which was a strong force behind Intro 410, has grown from 12 to 19 since the election. Among Intro 410’s cosponsors were now Public Advocate Letitia James and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who can now use their new roles to co-sign but not vote on the legislation.

In addition to support from elected officials, a massive coalition, The New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights has spearheaded the movement to pass the bill. Member organizations include the Center for Constitutional Rights, CUNY Professional Staff Congress, Make the Road New York, SEIU 32BJ, United Neighborhood Houses of New York, Urban Justice Center, and many others.

A Majority of New Yorkers Support Restoring Noncitizen Voting Rights

Most importantly, a majority of New York City residents support restoring noncitizen voting rights. A 2011 public opinion survey conducted by Baruch College’s Survey Research Unit showed that out of a randomly selected a sample of 1,207 adult New Yorkers, 50% of those surveyed said they “supported city residents who are in the country legally but are not U.S. citizens to be allowed to vote in municipal elections.” Of those surveyed, 43% said they were opposed and 6% were unsure. Carlos Vargas-Ramos, a Research Associate at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College published the results in a report titled Expanding Voting Rights in New York City.

A Practical Proposal for NYC

There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that precludes NYC from enfranchising noncitizens. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld voting by noncitizens in Minor v. Happersett. In addition, implementation of the municipal voter program would require mainly administrative costs of such as designing new registration materials and costs associated with the NYC Board of Elections maintaining a separate voter roll of municipal voters.

As the right to vote is restricted by voter ID laws and other restrictive measures in cities and states across the nation, NYC has a historic opportunity to expand voting rights. By creating a municipal voter program, NYC will reinvigorate our electoral system, promote civic inclusion, and give a voice to over a million residents who deserve to be heard. If the Council passes the bill, New York will join 6 towns in Maryland, and over 65 countries, that allow some form of immigrant voting rights. All eyes look to the “city of immigrants” to see if it will cross the next voting rights frontier.

This post was written by a student enrolled in the Capstone Seminar course in the undergraduate program in public policy at Hunter College. Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the student.