The LA City Council decided Thursday to put a ballot initiative before the voters in November that, if passed, would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
It’s a terrible idea that cheapens the privilege of citizenship and dilutes the votes of US citizens.
The question of whether noncitizen voting is even legal, or constitutional, remains an open one. It is true that noncitizens have been allowed to vote at various points and places in American history.
But for the past century, voting has been strongly linked to citizenship. It is, in fact, one of the most important privileges of citizenship, and an important incentive for people to immigrate legally and to study for their citizenship exams.
It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. And no state allows noncitizens to vote in state elections, either.
But some states leave room for municipalities to set their own rules for local elections.
California is one of them. Gavin Newsom and the Democrats in Sacramento cracked down on Huntington Beach for requiring ID to vote. But if a city decides to let noncitizens vote, apparently that’s all right.
The partisan agenda is obvious. Democrats want to set a precedent for noncitizens voting in local elections, then argue that they should be able to vote in state and federal elections.
That would allow Democrats to capitalize on their decades-old dream of using massive waves of foreign migrants — legal, and illegal — to swamp Republicans at the polls, and to rule without effective opposition, forever.
Are Democrats so insecure — even after defeating the one Republican who stood up to them in LA — that they want to prevent any future Spencer Pratts from having similar thoughts?
There are more sincere arguments for noncitizen voting. Noncitizens also pay taxes, and use public services.
But that is not reason enough to allow them to enjoy the most cherished benefit of citizenship.
We are just days past one of the most controversial local elections in the recent history of the city.
Many Angelenos have lost faith in the voting system, even if they have accepted the results of the primary.
Nothing would be worse for restoring public trust in elections than to hand the vote to people who are not even Americans.
LA is also a “sanctuary city,” meaning that some noncitizen voters could be here illegally.
Let’s hope that LA voters see right through this awful initiative.