N.Y.'s Top Court Rejects NYC's Noncitizens Voting Law

New York state's top court Thursday struck down a New York City law that would have allowed more than 800,000 noncitizens to vote in municipal elections such as mayoral races.

The Court of Appeals' progressive majority overwhelmingly agreed with Republicans who brought the case, ruling in a 6-1 decision that only citizens should be able to vote, reports Politico.

The voting bill, approved as Mayor Bill de Blasio was about to leave office, automatically became law in early 2022 when neither he nor his successor, Mayor Eric Adams, vetoed it.

The legal battle centered on language in the New York state constitution that declares that "every citizen shall be entitled to vote at every election for all officers elected by the people."

Republicans opposing it made the case that the language prohibited noncitizens from voting, while city council Democrats argued that local governments could expand voting rights if they wished.

"Under that interpretation, municipalities are free to enact legislation that would enable anyone to vote — including … 13-year-old children," Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote. "It is plain from the language and restrictions contained in [the state constitution] that 'citizen' is not meant as a floor but as a condition of voter eligibility: The franchise extends only to citizens whose right to vote is established by proper proofs."

Joe Borelli, a former New York City Council minority leader and one of the plaintiffs challenging the law, commented that while "we file some lawsuits that are stretches, this one was, from the beginning, an open-shut case."

Another plaintiff in the case, Assemblymember Michael Tannousis, a Staten Island Republican, agreed.

"As the court had held from the very beginning, the law is clear that voting is a sacred right that is for United States citizens," he said. "As the son of immigrants that came to New York for the American dream and worked hard to become naturalized citizens, I am content with today's ruling."