Posted on October 5, 2022

DC Council Advances Bill to Let Noncitizens Vote

Julia Mueller, The Hill, October 4, 2022

Washington, D.C.’s city council on Tuesday voted to advance a bill that would allow noncitizen residents to vote in local elections.

“Our immigrant neighbors of all statuses participate, contribute and care about our community in our city. They, like all DC residents, deserve a right to have a say in their government,” said D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen, introducing the bill during the Tuesday legislative meeting.

“They raise families here, contribute to their community. They run businesses that people depend on, and they pay taxes that we decide how to spend. Yet they have no ability to elect local leaders who make decisions about their bodies, their businesses and their tax dollars,” Allen said.

The bill would allow all noncitizen residents in the city who otherwise meet voting requirements to vote in local elections, including mayoral, school board and attorney general races — regardless of visa or documentation status.

The councilmembers voted 12-1 in favor of the bill on first reading, greenlighting the bill to go ahead for a final vote before it is sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D).

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