LA councilmember wants to allow noncitizens to vote in city elections

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Los Angeles city councilmember is pushing to explore whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote in future city elections - a proposal still in its earliest stages but already drawing sharp criticism.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said he hopes his motion will make it onto the November ballot, claiming it could eventually open the door for noncitizen residents to participate in local elections.

Federal law bans noncitizens from voting in national races, but several U.S. cities - including some in California - and the District of Columbia allow limited forms of noncitizen voting. Eighteen states, however, have enacted outright bans.

Soto-Martinez said the idea is about fairness for longtime residents who contribute to the city but have no electoral voice.

"We have folks living in this country who have been here 20 years," he said. "They started a family, they pay their taxes, many of them are homeowners, but they don't have a say over the policies that affect their children and families on any given day."

The motion before the council does not authorize noncitizen voting. Instead, it asks voters whether the city charter should be amended to allow the council to discuss the idea down the road.

"It just says, 'Should we amend the city charter to allow the city council to explore this in the future,'" Soto-Martinez said, adding that any details - "who's going to be involved, how we're going to do it" - would need to be worked out later.

Before reaching voters, the proposal must pass the council's rules committee and then the full council.

Even at this preliminary stage, the concept is facing strong pushback.

Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform said the proposal undermines the meaning of citizenship.

"It just strikes people as fundamentally wrong," Mehlman said.

He argued that the Constitution's preamble underscores that voting is a right reserved for citizens.

"The preamble to the Constitution says 'We the people of the United States,' not 'We the taxpayers of the United States,' not 'We the people who just happen to show up here in this country whether it's legally or illegally,'" Mehlman said. "There are certain criteria and that is the basic foundation of our republic."

Mehlman warned that extending voting rights to noncitizens would dilute the significance of citizenship.

"If everyone who just shows up here has an equal voice on how this country is run, then we've essentially rendered citizenship meaningless," he said.

Soto-Martinez said he expects debate - and opposition - but believes the city should at least consider the issue.

"I think there's always going to be elements of our society that are going to fearmonger and try to make this a divisive issue, but we're really trying to look at fairness," he said. "I want to welcome the debate."

The proposal remains in its infancy, and even if voters approve the charter change, Soto-Martinez says any move toward noncitizen voting would still be years away.