OAN Staff James Meyers
1:50pm – Thursday, March 20th, 2025
New York's highest courts have broken controversial laws that allow non-citizens of foreign countries to vote.
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The New York Court of Appeals voted Thursday by a 6-1 vote that the law passed by the city council in late 2021 violated the state's constitution.
He was supported by current Democratic mayoral candidates, Adrian Adams and Brad Lander. 800,000 non-citizens with green cards would have granted the right to vote.
Nevertheless, it was deemed unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals last month.
“Today's submission to appeal the recent decision in the second part calls for a decision from the state's Supreme Court that it is consistent with the state's constitution, election law, and city home rules laws,” said Rendy Desamoles, a spokesman for the city council.
“Whatever the future may be, today's New York Constitution draws a solid line restricting votes for citizens,” the opinion states.
The ruling will shut down state court laws and kill hopes of left-wing city council members and progressive advocates of the city's 800,000 green cardholders in local elections.
Idanis Rodriguez, a former Democratic councillor and serving as the Mayor Eric Adams (DN.Y.) Transportation Commissioner, initially introduced the bill. Rodriguez and others argued that non-citizens with green cards should be able to vote to “pay taxes and contribute” to the community.
When the bill regained steam through the council, it attracted the support of 36 co-sponsors.
The Council passed laws surrounding objections from Republicans who viewed the proposed law as a non-starter, particularly as the national constitution appears to clearly restrict votes to US citizens only.
Even Bill de Blasio, a Democrat at the time, said he couldn't get to the back of the bill and would leave it signed. Furthermore, Adams himself never signed the bill, but he did not refuse.
Adams' “inaction” allowed it to be passed to law for several days until 2022.
But many New York Republican politicians led by Staten Island President Vito Fossella quickly challenged the law. It claimed it was very unconstitutional and would take away the value of New Yorkers' votes.
As a result, the challenge was upheld by successive rulings, prompting appeals and confrontations in the state's Supreme Court.
Fossella won the winning lap on the ruling.
“It's a victory for common sense, the sanctity and security of the franchise, the right to vote as an American citizen,” he said.
Congressman Michael Tannausis (RN.Y.), who also participated in the lawsuit, noted that the law undermines his belief in elections.
“As the son of immigrants who have eagerly pursued America's dreams, I think it's essential to protect the justice of our election process,” Tannosis said. “Granting non-citizens the right to vote within just 30 days of residency undermines this principle. Our democracy is based on the foundation that voting is a privilege of citizenship and deviations from now on erode the trust of the people.”
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