U.S. city allows non-citizens to vote, now faces serious action
(Photo by Joe Kovacs)
By Rebeka Zeljko
Daily Caller News Foundation
Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the city of Burlington, Vermont, for allowing non-citizens to participate in its elections.
RITE filed the lawsuit against the city of Burlington for allowing noncitizens to vote in local city or Burlington School District elections. The lawsuit alleges that in doing so, the city violated “voter’s qualifications” enshrined in the Vermont State Constitution.
“Activists are working overtime to undermine democracy in Vermont by extending the right to vote to noncitizens,” Derek Lyons, President of RITE, said in a press release. “This anti-democratic agenda is progressing at an alarming pace.”
RITE Sues to Stop Noncitizen Voting In Vermont’s Largest City
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— Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) (@Restoring_USA) June 18, 2024
The city’s annual education budget is funded with tax dollars through the State Education Fund, which is created by the Board of School Commissioners. By allowing noncitizens to vote to elect School commissioners, they now “have the power to affect financial decisions that have implications for all Vermont taxpayers,” RITE alleged.
“Permitting noncitizens to vote on these issues violates the Vermont Constitution,” the lawsuit states.
In November 2018, a similar provision was approved by the city of Montpelier allowing noncitizens to vote in certain local elections. Two years later in November of 2020, the city of Winooski approved a measure allowing noncitizens to vote in all city elections.
The Vermont General Assembly voted to approve the Montpelier and Winooski amendments in May of 2021, but were vetoed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott later that June. The General Assembly overrode those vetoes later that month, approving the amendments.
“The non-citizen voting movement achieves the left’s goal of legalizing foreign interference in American elections,” Lyons said in the press release. “It threatens the rule of law and must be stopped before it further infects Vermont and other states in this country.
The offices of Scott and Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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