Judge dismisses challenge to DC law on non-citizen voting

A federal judge has dismissed a legal challenge to a Washington, D.C., law permitting noncitizens to vote in local elections.

The measure further applies to illegal immigrants and the staff of foreign embassies, according to Fox News. Non-citizens must merely reside in the District for at least 30 days and be otherwise qualified to vote to be eligible.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Thursday dismissed the challenge from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), asserting that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the measure.

The challenge "does not include facts showing plaintiffs' right to vote has been denied, that they have been subjected to discrimination or inequitable treatment or denied opportunities when compared to another group, or that their rights as citizens have been ‘subordinated merely because of [their] father’s country of origin,'" she wrote.

Non-citizen voting has attracted considerable scrutiny from conservatives, as well as myriad courts. A New York City law permitting non-citizen voting was blocked by the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division last month.

A group of Republicans had challenged that law, alleging that a sudden influx of newly eligible voters "will dilute the votes of United States citizens."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.