State appeals court rejects NYC non-citizen voting law

A New York appeals court on Wednesday rejected a New York City law permitting non-citizens to vote in local elections on state constitutional grounds.

The city approved the law in 2021, though it did not become official under the following year. Roughly 800,000 people would become eligible to vote for mayor and city council under the plan, which has not taken effect due to legal challenges, Politico reported.

"We determine that this local law was enacted in violation of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law, and thus, must be declared null and void," Second Judicial Department Associate Justice Paul Wooten of the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division wrote.

The law had come under challenge from a group of Republicans, including members of the city council, party officials, members of Congress, and other elected officials. The lead plaintiff was Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella.

The group had alleged that the influx of such a volume of new voters "will dilute the votes of United States citizens" and "cause an abrupt and sizeable change to the makeup of the electorate, which will force the [ ]officeholder [p]laintiffs to change the way that they campaign for office" [sic].

"We just won a HUGE lawsuit challenging the right of non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. This is a HUGE VICTORY for the US CONSTITUTION, US Citizens and New Yorkers! Congrats and thank you to all my Republican colleagues for fighting hard on this!" NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov posted on X in the wake of the ruling.

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