NYC City Council appeals to save its non-citizen voting law

The New York City Council on Monday filed a notice of appeal hoping to save a law permitting non-citizens to vote in local elections.

The Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department in February shut down the law, stating that the law "was enacted in violation of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law, and thus, must be declared null and void." The city passed the law in 2021, which could render as many as 800,000 people eligible to vote.

"Empowering New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process can only strengthen New York City by increasing civic engagement," a spokesperson for the city council said, according to Politico.

The law has faced challenge from a group of Republicans, among them some members of the city council and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. They had specifically alleged that the law could "dilute the votes of United States citizens" and "cause an abrupt and sizeable change to the makeup of the electorate" that would require a change in how they campaigned for office.

Non-citizen voting has attracted considerable scrutiny from Republicans outside of New York as well. Last week, a federal judge dismissed a challenge to Washington, D.C.'s,, non-citizen voting law, with Judge Amy Berman Jackson determining that the plaintiff organization, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), lacked standing.

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