BURLINGTON, Vt. — A third Vermont city will now allow noncitizens who are legal residents to vote in local elections after the Democrat-controlled Legislature on Tuesday overrode the Republican governor’s veto of the Burlington charter change bill.
Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, now joins Montpelier and Winooski, which already permit such voting. City residents voted in favor of the charter change in March. The three Vermont cities are among more than a dozen communities in a handful of states — including New York City, and a number of towns in Maryland — that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. Eight states have laws that only allow U.S. citizens to vote in elections, according to the group Americans for Citizen Voting.
The Republican National Committee filed lawsuits against Montpelier and Winooski asking judges to declare noncitizen voting unconstitutional and lost those challenges. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, including races for president, vice president, Senate or House of Representatives.
In January, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that such voting in local elections in Montpelier doesn’t violate the state constitution.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less