NY Supreme Court Strikes Down NYC Voting Rights for Foreign Nationals
The New York Supreme Court has struck down a New York City law, passed by Democrats late last year, that sought to give municipal voting rights to nearly a million foreign nationals.
As Breitbart News has chronicled, Democrats on the 51-member New York City Council approved a plan last month that allows more than 800,000 foreign nationals with green cards, visas, and work permits the opportunity to vote in citywide elections so long as they have resided in the city for at least 30 consecutive days.
Subsequently, black Americans in New York City, along with naturalized American citizens, the New York State Republican Party, the Republican National Committee (RNC), and Democrat officials like Councilman Robert Holden sued Mayor Eric Adams (D) and the city’s Board of Elections.
The lawsuit noted that the New York State Constitution expressly states that voting rights are a privilege reserved for American “citizens.”
In its decision on Monday, the Court ruled that the law is “illegal, null, and void” because “it is clear … that voting is a right granted to citizens of the United States,” writing:
Local governments, including city governments, must be elected by the people, which is defined as citizens under Article II. Based upon the foregoing analysis, the Court finds that the Municipal Voting Law explicitly violates the New York State Constitution, as only “citizens” may vote in elections. [Emphasis added]
[…]
The Court needs not look to the legislative intent of this section to know there is no carevout for noncitizens to vote under the Election Law. This section applies to “any” election within New York State. [Emphasis added]...