Politics
House GOP Takes Action After DC City Council Allows Non-Citizens To Vote
The House GOP and a few Democrat allies have taken action to defend the rights of American citizens. Specifically, they’ve just passed a resolution in the House to attack the decision by the DC City Council to let non-citizens vote in local elections.
The House did so in a bill that was introduced by Rep. James Comer and passed in a 260 to 162 vote. Among those who voted in favor of the resolution were 218 Republicans and 42 Democrats. The text of the bill itself is quite short and immediately gets to the point, saying:
Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress disapproves of the action of the District of Columbia Council described as follows: The Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24–640), enacted by the Council of the District of Columbia on November 21, 2022, and transmitted to Congress pursuant to section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act on January 10, 2023.
Predictably, the passage of that act infuriated the radical left. D.C. Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau, for example, tweeted, “The Local Residents Voting Rights Amendment Act passes! For nearly a decade, I’ve championed expanding voting rights so that those who have made the District their home have the right for their voices to be heard in our local issues, no matter their immigration status.”
Republicans, however, were unrepentant in cheering the resolution. Rep. James Comer, for instance, applauded the bipartisan effort to allow only Americans to vote in American elections in a statement, saying:
“Today the House took the first step to prevent two of the D.C. Council’s irresponsible and dangerous laws from going into effect. These misguided efforts would allow crime to run rampant and disenfranchise American citizens in our nation’s capital.”
“Our nation’s capital city is in crisis, but the D.C. Council has prioritized radical bills that would embolden criminals to remain on the streets and allow non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in local elections. We must ensure that these terrible laws do not take effect. The Senate must take the next step so that we can protect the American people from the D.C. Council’s path of destruction.”
As a reminder, the DC City Council passed its resolution allowing non-citizen voting in October of 2022. WUSA 9 reported on that at the time, saying:
The DC Council has passed the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, according to a tweet from Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who is the bill’s lead sponsor. This bill will allow non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants to vote in local elections in D.C.
This includes races for D.C. Mayor, chairman or member of the council, attorney general, board of education, ANC, and any initiative, referendum recall or charter referendum.
Although this bill would allow non-citizens to vote in local D.C. elections, it will not give them access to voting in federal elections.
Some voting requirements will be the same for citizens and non-citizens, however. Those voting will still have to be 18 years old by the time of the general election, must live in D.C. for at least 30 days before the election and not claim voting residence in any U.S. state or U.S. territory.
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
