Vermont Supreme Court Upholds Noncitizen Voting

The Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday’s municipal elections will allow Montpelier residents who are not citizens to vote. The court argued that the state Constitution does not allow noncitizens in Montpelier to vote because federal elections are only subject to citizenship requirements.

“The statute allowing noncitizens to vote in local Montpelier elections does not violate Chapter II, § 42 because that constitutional provision does not apply to local elections,” The Supreme Court wrote.

Montpelier, a city in Vermont, voted in 2018 to allow noncitizens voting in local elections. This was if they were legal residents of the United States. In 2020, the city of Winooski did the same. The Democrat-controlled Vermont legislature will be in place in 2021. approved such changes to both city’s municipal charters, over Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s veto. In response, the Republican National Committee filed 2 lawsuits asking for judges to declare non-citizen voter voting unconstitutional.

Federal law forbids noncitizens of voting in federal elections. However, many jurisdictions across the nation, including San Francisco and multiple Maryland towns, allow them to vote in municipal elections.

A system like this can lead to chaos in local elections offices and their administration of election. As city clerks must keep two sets voter rolls, and set up procedures to determine who can vote in an election with both federal and local offices on it, they will need to create procedures. This would create confusion in already messy state voter rolls, particularly at a time of low confidence in American elections.

Colorado provides a warning to states and localities that they may adopt noncitizen voting. During the November midterm elections, the secretary of state’s office erroneously sent out 31,000 postcards were sent to foreign nationals advising them how to register to vote in the Nov. 8, 2008 election. This was the result of a mismanagement oversight with the state’s voter rolls.

There are other problems with non-citizen voter participation disenfranchising actual citizensAs before reportedThis is a Democratic ploy to increase their voter base.

Blue cities like New York, Boston, D.C., and Washington, D.C., are all considering noncitizen voter implementations. However, Louisiana and Ohio were the latest eight states to pass laws. banning noncitizen voting In municipal elections.

Victoria Marshall is a staff writer for The Federalist. Her writing has appeared in The Federalist, National Review, Townhall, and the New York Post. Hillsdale College graduated her in May 2021, with a double major in journalism and politics. Follow her Twitter @vemrshll.