Immigrants Raise Call for Right to Be Voters

[Khephra]

For months, the would-be revolutionaries plotted strategy and lobbied local politicians here with the age-old plea, "No taxation without representation!" Last month, some of the unlikely insurgents - Ethiopian-born restaurateurs, travel agents and real estate developers in sober business suits - declared that victory finally seemed within reach.

Five City Council members announced their support for a bill that would allow thousands of immigrants to vote in local elections here, placing the nation's capital among a handful of cities across the country in the forefront of efforts to offer voting rights to noncitizens.

"It will happen,'' said Tamrat Medhin, a civic activist from Ethiopia who lives here. "Don't you believe that if people are working in the community and paying taxes, don't you agree that they deserve the opportunity to vote?''

Calling for "democracy for all," immigrants are increasingly pressing for the right to vote in municipal elections. In Washington, the proposed bill, introduced in July, would allow permanent residents to vote for the mayor and members of the school board and City Council.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/politics/09immig.html

[theivoryqueen]

1. on this issue I may have to depart the party....

I think people must at least be citizens to vote in a country. Otherwise, I am seriously voting that queen bitch offa the UK.

[acmavm]

3. I agree. The thought is pretty crazy. In fact, that's one of the goofiest

ideas that I've heard floated in a while.

[Syrinx]

2. while this would probably help the Democratic party...

I would be opposed to letting non-citizens vote. (But if we lose in November, I might be willing to ignore principle on the matter.)

[theivoryqueen]

5. Or ignore the Matter on Principle...

[Syrinx]

6. hey, I like the way you think

:thumbsup:

[Jim Sagle]

4. Treason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[noahmijo]

7. Ah no, but I say make these people citizens immediately

Given the evidence that they are contributing to this country, and with their acquired citizenship they could vote.

[Odd Little Man]

8. No way!

If you are not a citizen you don't vote. Period.

[Paschall]

9. More from the article

"They describe the ban on immigrant voting as akin to the kind of taxation without representation that was a major cause of the American Revolution.

"They also note that the United States has a long history of allowing noncitizens to vote. Twenty-two states and federal territories at various times allowed noncitizens to vote - even as blacks and women were barred from the ballot box - in the 1800's and 1900's.

"Concerns about the radicalism of immigrants arriving from southern and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led states to restrict such voting rights. By 1928, voting at every level had been restricted to United States citizens. Today, some argue, those rights should be restored to noncitizens."

The European Union allows non-citizens to vote in local elections.