Federal judge tossed lawsuit challenging D.C.'s nonresident voting law
Source: The Hill
03/21/24 10:51 PM ET
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed a lawsuit challenging a district law that allows noncitizens to vote in local elections, ruling the plaintiffs did not prove the law violates their rights. In an opinion issued Thursday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled against a group of seven plaintiffs — all of whom are U.S. citizens and registered to vote in D.C. — who argued the city’s “Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022” violates their Fifth Amendment rights.
The law, passed by the D.C. Council in 2022, removed the citizenship requirement for voting in municipal elections, allowing noncitizen residents to vote in local, but not federal elections, according to court documents. This includes being able to vote for local officials, along with local initiatives, referenda, recalls or charter amendment measures. The law also allows noncitizen residents to run for D.C. government roles and serve on the city’s Board of Elections, per court filings.
The suit, filed against D.C.’s Board of Elections, alleged the law “dilutes the vote of every U.S. citizen voter in the District.” The plaintiffs argued the enfranchisement of noncitizens infringed on their fundamental right to vote, and discriminated against U.S. citizens and native-born U.S. citizens living in D.C. while violating the “constitutional right to citizen self-government.”
The plaintiffs requested the judge to stop the Board of Elections from registering noncitizens to vote and counting votes cast by noncitizens, per the filing. Jackson ruled the plaintiffs failed to show anything was “taken away or diminished” from them because of the law.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4548990-federal-judge-tossed-lawsuit-challenging-d-c-s-nonresident-voting-law/
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