New York City law allowing non-citizens to vote struck down by court

New York court blocks law allowing over 800,000 non-citizens to vote

Robert Besser
24 Mar 2025, 16:33 GMT+10

New York City law allowing non-citizens to vote struck down by court

New York State’s highest court has struck down a law this week that would have allowed over 800,000 legal non-citizens to vote in New York City’s local elections
In a 6-1 ruling, the Court of Appeals said the 2021 law violated the state constitution. Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote that the constitution clearly limits citizens' voting rights
The law would have let legal residents and those with work permits vote in city elections if they had lived in New York City for at least 30 days

NEW YORK CITY, New York: New York State's highest court has struck down a law this week that would have allowed over 800,000 legal non-citizens to vote in New York City's local elections.

In a 6-1 ruling, the Court of Appeals said the 2021 law violated the state constitution. Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote that the constitution clearly limits citizens' voting rights.

The law would have let legal residents and those with work permits vote in city elections if they had lived in New York City for at least 30 days. However, they would still not have been able to vote in state or federal elections.

Lower courts had already blocked the law after Republicans challenged it.

Currently, more than a dozen U.S. cities, including San Francisco and Washington, D.C., allow non-citizens to vote in some local elections.

Meanwhile, several Republican-led states have passed laws confirming that only citizens can vote, influenced by Donald Trump's false claims that millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally.

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