New York's highest court struck down NYC's controversial law allowing non-citizens to vote in a 6-to-1 decision, limiting voting only to citizens after a three-year legal battle.
In a blow to Democrats, liberal judges on the New York State Court of Appeals sided with their conservative colleagues on March 20 to reject the law as unconstitutional in a major victory for voter integrity.
The law, which was passed by the Democrat-run New York City Council in December 2021, would have enabled nearly 800,000 “lawful permanent residents” with green cards, work authorization and DACA status, and who have lived in the city for at least a month, to vote to vote in local elections.
Non-citizens under those categories would have been entitled to vote in city elections for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president and the City Council, thus giving the Democrats an even larger majority of votes.
The Democrat bill did not grant noncitizens the right to vote in presidential, congressional, or state elections.
New York City Mayor Mayor Eric Adams, who took office just nine days after the passage of the bill, did not veto it, allowing it to take effect in January 2022.
A coalition of voters, along with the Republican National Committee and the New York Republican State Committee, led by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, immediately filed a lawsuit, arguing that the New York State Constitution limited voting rights in every election to U.S. citizens and warning that the bill partially disenfranchised legal voters.
They noted that the state constitution specified that “every citizen shall be entitled to vote” and that it does not extend to include non-citizens.
A lower court in Staten Island issued a summary judgment against the statute later that year, keeping it from being enforced, following a similar 2024 ruling by a state appellate court.
The City Council appealed the ruling to the top state court, as city authorities faced harsh scrutiny over the handling of immigration in an election year.
Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, who was appointed by Democrat NY Governor Kathy Hochul, agreed with the Republicans and wrote, “[I]t is plain from the language and restrictions contained in Article II that ‘citizen’ is not meant as a floor, but as a condition of voter eligibility: the franchise extends only to citizens whose right to vote is established by proper proofs and who vote by ballot.”
Article II of the state constitution stipulates that “every citizen shall be entitled to vote at every election for all officers elected by the people.”
Still, supporters of the non-citizen voter law argued during hearings in February that this did not particularly prohibit noncitizens from voting and that the city had the right to determine who could participate in its local elections.
However, Wilson disagreed with that argument, writing, “Under that interpretation, municipalities are free to enact legislation that would enable anyone to vote—including, as counsel for appellants stated during oral argument, thirteen-year-old children."
“Whatever the future may bring, the New York Constitution as it stands today draws a firm line restricting voting to citizens,” Wilson added.
Justice Michael Garcia of the court also expressed concern that the law could give local governments too much power to decide on who could or could not vote in local elections.
Associate Judge Jenny Rivera was the lone dissenter on the seven member panel.
“For what should be the final time, common sense has prevailed,” Fossella wrote in a press release.
“From day one we maintained that the plain language of the New York State Constitution does not extend the right to vote to noncitizens. We are thankful the Court of Appeals saw it the same way, and by a significant margin,” he continued.
"They tried hard to legalize non-citizen voting in New York and just failed. Now, they will try to keep doing it illegally. Voter ID is still banned in New York and California," said Elon Musk in a tweet.
Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesperson for the New York City Law Department, which defended the law on behalf of the City Council, said, “The highest court in New York State has spoken. We respect the court’s ruling."
Cesar Ruiz, an associate counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which supported the law, called the decision a “terrible setback for our immigrant communities who contribute so much to the well-being of the city.”
“Sadly, this decision aligns with the desires of those in this country who at this moment are persecuting immigrants and want to erase their influence and presence in our society, and reinforces systemic barriers that actively strip immigrants of opportunities for representation, protection and inclusion,” Ruiz said.
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