New York City Council on Thursday, December 9, approved the law, according to which residents who own a green-card or work permit can take part in local elections. Reports about it NYT.
Now the number of votes in the local election in the city will increase by 800 thousand people. This is a record for the municipality in the United States by the number of persons without American citizenship with the right to vote. New permission will not affect illegal migrants.
Mayor of New York Bill de Blazio refused to impose a veto to the decision of the city council. After December 31, 2021, he will leave his post, and the new mayor will be Eric Adams, who spoke in support of the election law of the Green card owners. However, politician expressed doubt on the authority of the Council to equalize the rights with American citizens of stateless persons.
Similar measures were introduced earlier. As of June 2021, 14 municipalities in the United States allowed non-citizens to vote on some or all local elections. One of the municipalities is located in California (San Francisco), 11 – in Maryland and two – in Vermont.