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Arguments for and against laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States
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This article covers noncitizen voting in the United States. It includes background information about the issue, language from federal law and state constitutions, details about the municipalities that allow noncitizen voting, and a list of states where it is prohibited.
According to the Pew Research Center, there were over 25 million people living in the U.S. in 2020 who were not U.S. citizens. This included approximately 12 million permanent residents living in the U.S. with legal permission, as well as 2 million temporary residents visiting the U.S. for a period of time as students, tourists, foreign workers, foreign officials, etc. Pew's figure also includes approximately 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.[1][2]
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections, including elections for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidential elections. This law does not apply to elections for state and local offices.[3] Click here to learn more about recent legal challenges involving noncitizen voting.
Whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote is a subject of debate.
Some arguments concern whether to enfranchise noncitizens living in the country legally (such as permanent residents or those with temporary visas), while others include noncitizens in the country without legal permission.
| Supporters of allowing noncitizens to vote argue that it is unfair to prohibit noncitizen voting because the naturalization process is so difficult, that allowing noncitizens to vote doesn't discourage them from seeking citizenship, and that allowing noncitizens to vote promotes policy that benefits society as a whole. |
| Opponents of allowing noncitizens to vote argue that people should accept the duties of citizenship before being allowed to vote, that noncitizen voting could allow foreign influence in American elections, and that allowing noncitizens to vote discourages them from seeking citizenship. |
On this page, you will find:
- Arguments at a glance: A brief summary of support and opposition arguments
- Support arguments in detail: Detailed support arguments from a variety of sources
- Opposition arguments in detail: Detailed opposition arguments from a variety of sources
- See also: Links to resources with more information on noncitizen suffrage and voting laws
Arguments at a glance
This section includes quotes briefly summarizing some of the most prevalent arguments for and against noncitizen voting.
| Support | Opposition |
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| "While [noncitizens] live under the same policies set by legislative bodies, they have little ability to influence and select the representatives making those laws. This exclusion is a fundamental violation of their self-determination — an affront to one of their most basic, inviolable rights."[4] -Professor Ron Hayduk, San Francisco State University (2018) |
"Non-citizen voting dilutes the value of citizenship, normalizes illegal immigration, and invites foreign nationals to interfere in U.S. elections. The idea of non-citizen voting is absurd. If an American citizen moved to another country, would he expect to have a say in how that country is run without first becoming a citizen? Of course not."[5] -U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) (2022) |
Support arguments in detail
Three arguments in support of allowing noncitizens to vote are that it is unfair to prohibit noncitizen voting because the naturalization process is so difficult, that prohibiting noncitizen voting encourages discriminatory public policy, that allowing noncitizens to vote doesn't discourage them from seeking citizenship, and that allowing noncitizens to vote promotes policy that benefits society as a whole.
This section includes quotations from a variety of sources exemplifying these arguments.
It is unfair to prohibit noncitizen voting because the naturalization process is so difficult
In a 2018 article in the Dallas Morning News, "Community Voices" columnist Rosemary Curts compared prohibiting noncitizens who are legal residents from voting to a poll tax because of the financial costs to become a citizen.
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One woman I spoke to has lived here since she was five years old. Alejandra came to the U.S. legally and she regularly gets her green card renewed. She has been a permanent resident for more than 35 years. Alejandra said she knows she should try to become a citizen, but it costs upwards of $1,000, with legal fees. She has a decent job, but like plenty of citizens in the United States, she doesn't have a spare $1,000. … The fact that non-citizen legal immigrants in the U.S. cannot vote is a form of voter suppression. Laws like the poll tax were struck down because our courts decided that financial barriers to voting were unconstitutional. But how is the financial barrier of becoming a citizen any different?[6] |
” |
| —Dallas Morning News columnist Rosemary Curts (2018)[7] | ||
Noncitizen voting does not discourage seeking citizenship
In a 2017 article in The Washington Post, professor Joshua A. Douglas of the University of Kentucky College of Law argued that allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections does not disincentivize them from seeking citizenship and could actually encourage them to do so.
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Local laws and policies affect noncitizens every day. Efforts to give legal noncitizens voting rights are significant because they help provide a voice to those with a vested stake in their communities, as well as a sense of belonging. Allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections could actually increase the likelihood that they seek full citizenship. Meanwhile, federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, so granting voting rights for only local elections will not deter them from seeking their citizenship and the full rights it entails.[6] |
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| —Professor Joshua A. Douglas, University of Kentucky College of Law (2017)[8] | ||
Noncitizen voting benefits society as a whole
In a 2018 Jacobin article, political science professor Ron Hayduk of San Francisco State University argued that allowing noncitizens to vote would benefit society as a whole by promoting policy that benefits marginalized communities.
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Extending suffrage would also benefit the larger society. We all share the same interest in having good schools, affordable housing, effective transportation, environmental justice, and so on. Allowing a permanent class of non-voters to persist on the margins benefits elites that wish to profit from undocumented people’s labor and divide workers between those with papers and those without them. Far from diluting the concept of citizenship, noncitizen voting would enrich it by fully incorporating immigrants. Rather than undermining democracy, it would counteract elite-driven policy and promote more robust democratic practices.[6] |
” |
| —Political science professor Ron Hayduk, San Francisco State University (2018)[9] | ||
Opposition arguments in detail
Three arguments against allowing noncitizens to vote are that people should accept the duties of citizenship before being allowed to vote, that noncitizen voting could allow foreign influence in American elections, and that allowing noncitizens to vote discourages them from seeking citizenship.
This section includes quotations from a variety of sources exemplifying these arguments.
The duties of citizenship should be accepted before voting
In a 2020 response to City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez's (D) effort to allow legal noncitizen residents to vote in local elections, the New York Post Editorial Board argued that people should be required to accept the duties of citizenship before being allowed to vote.
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Citizenship should mean something, and the right to vote is a big part of it. And while most Americans are born citizens, an immigrant’s affirmative decision to become a citizen is a vital acceptance of duties as well as privileges. “I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty,” reads the oath of allegiance for the newly naturalized. And “I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and “bear true faith and allegiance to the same,” including military service and other “work of national importance” as required by law.[6] |
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| —New York Post Editorial Board (2020)[10] | ||
Noncitizen voting could allow foreign influence in American elections
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate in 2022 prohibiting noncitizen voting in Washington, D.C. He argued that noncitizen voting creates the potential for foreign influence in American elections.
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Voting is a distinct right and privilege that American citizens enjoy in the United States. It is a responsibility, not to be treated lightly, and it must be protected. Voters decide not only who will lead our country, our cities and communities, but also how our tax dollars should be spent and what policies we should adopt. ... Allowing non-citizens and illegal immigrants to vote in our elections opens our country up to foreign influence, and allows those who are openly violating U.S. law or even working for hostile foreign governments to take advantage and direct our resources against our will.[6] |
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| —U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) (2022)[11] | ||
Voting discourages noncitizens from seeking citizenship
In a 2018 article in USA Today, opinion columnist Ross K. Baker argued that the right to vote in local elections, combined with the benefits some noncitizens might receive, would disincentivize them from going through the naturalization process to become citizens.
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The right to vote is a component of citizenship. It is not a dispensation granted to those who may or may not apply for citizenship. The benefits of U.S. citizenship are both tangible and intangible but remaining a resident alien is not without its benefits. In addition to federal benefits, there is a General Assistance program funded largely by the state; immigrants can receive around $800 a month. Unless the emotional urge to pursue citizenship is unusually strong, the combination of the social welfare benefits and the right to vote in city elections diminishes the incentive to jump through the hoops required of those who seek to become citizens.[6] |
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| —Opinion columnist Ross K. Baker, USA Today (2018)[12] | ||
See also
- Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States
- Debate over the prevalence of noncitizens voting
- Suffrage on the ballot
Footnotes
- ↑ Note that Pew's count of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally included individuals with temporary protection from deportation, like under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "Key findings about U.S. immigrants," August 20, 2020
- ↑ Cornell Law School, "18 U.S. Code § 611 - Voting by aliens," accessed February 15, 2023
- ↑ Jacobin, "Why Non-Citizens Should Be Allowed to Vote," November 6, 2018
- ↑ Jeff Duncan for South Carolina's 3rd District, "Stop pretending non-citizen voting is normal—it's not," February 8, 2022
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Dallas Morning News, "The U.S. should let legal immigrants vote," April 17, 2018
- ↑ Washington Post, "Noncitizens are gaining the right to vote. Good," August 18, 2017
- ↑ Jacobin, "Why Noncitizens Should Be Allowed to Vote," November 6, 2018
- ↑ New York Post, "Citizenship matters: why it’s wrong to let non-citizens vote," January 23, 2020
- ↑ Ted Cruz for Texas, "Press Releases - Sen. Cruz Introduces Bill to Prohibit Non-citizen Voting in Nation's Capital," November 18, 2022
- ↑ USA Today, "In American politics today, the folly of the right only sparks new stupidity from the left," August 20, 2018
