BURLINGTON — The Burlington City Council is once again weighing whether noncitizens should be able to vote in municipal elections after voters rejected the idea in 2015.
The council voted 10-2 Monday night to ask the charter change committee to report back with an amendment to the city charter that would expand the right to vote to all Burlington residents regardless of citizenship status.
Proponents argue that because noncitizens contribute to the city’s tax base and are affected by decisions made by local government, residents regardless of citizenship status should be able to vote.
Council President Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4, and Councilor Ali Dieng, D/P Ward 7, voted against the resolution. The question could be added to the March 2020 Town Meeting Day ballot.
Montpelier voters approved a similar measure in 2018, a charter change that now needs approval by the state Legislature before becoming law. While the House approved the charter change, the Senate did not act on the matter in 2019 but could pick it back up in 2020.
Councilor Adam Roof, I-Ward 8, proposed the resolution and said he believed the measure lined up with the city’s Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan, which seeks to bolster inclusive community engagement.
“Opening up the opportunity to vote on local issues to more Burlington residents is a viable way to limit barriers to our democratic process, and I believe there is a way to accomplish voter rights while remaining in line with the rule of law and in line with our stated values,” Roof said.
As of 2014, about 3,200 Burlington residents were ineligible to vote in local elections because they were refugees not yet eligible for U.S. citizenship, according to the resolution.
Roof said that since the Legislature would likely be considering the issue during the next session, he wanted the city to have a seat at the table during those discussions.
Burlington voters rejected the effort in 2015 in a 58%-42% vote.
“It will have been five years since the last time our community had the discussion on the ballot, and I think that’s an appropriate time to go back to the public with this question,” Roof said.
Councilor Franklin Paulino, D-North District, said the resolution would allow legal residents who pay taxes and live in the city to engage in local politics and hold the council accountable.
Paulino, who was born in the Dominican Republic, said the issue was important to him because he moved to the United States because his mother married a U.S. citizen.
“This resolution is about equality, it’s about bringing more people to the table,” Paulino said.
Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South District, said that five years did not feel like a lot of time to revisit an issue that was firmly opposed by voters. But she said she believed that times have changed significantly in the last five years and it was worth taking another look at.
“I’m not sure where at the end of the day I will land, and even if our intentions were to grant this power to vote to noncitizens, I am curious about the legal complications in doing so and if that’s even possible,” Shannon said.
Dieng, who immigrated to the United States from Mauritania in Western Africa, voted against the resolution. He said he had been looking forward to the right to vote when he became a citizen.
Dieng said that he thought the city should focus on improving participation among residents who are already citizens and said he was concerned about revisiting an idea that voters had already rejected.
“Voting is sacred, let’s help people with the pathway to citizenship,” Dieng said. “If you become a citizen, let’s educate them about their right to show up and vote.”
Dieng added that he shared Gov. Phil Scott’s concern that noncitizen voting would be in conflict with a 2017 law preventing the state from keeping databases with residents’ immigration status and providing the information to the federal government.
Rep. Mary Hooper, D-Montpelier, who sponsored the bill approving the charter change, said earlier this year that because only legal residents would be allowed to vote, noncitizen voting rolls wouldn’t be targeted by immigration enforcement officials.
One Burlington resident, Jeff Comstock, said during the council meeting’s public forum that he was against the resolution.
“There is a path to citizenship for a reason, and the right to vote is one of the most valuable prizes,” Comstock said.
Winooski also discussed noncitizen voting in 2018 and came close to putting it on the November ballot. Instead, the City Council decided to form a committee to research the issue more and do targeted community outreach.
In July, Winooski reestablished its charter commission to examine options for a charter change which would allow noncitizen residents to vote in municipal elections.
