A Maine city school board has endorsed a motion that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
The Portland Board of Education voted 4-3 in favor of the measure Tuesday evening, urging their city council to vote on the issue in November.
While officials against the referendum were skeptical that they had the authority to endorse such an issue, Maine Public Radio reported, one board member suggested that there might need to be a law change for a referendum to even happen. “For us to take it up right now, before any of that has been discussed, is not within our purview,” Mark Balfantz told the outlet.
If the referendum is passed by the city council and there is a favorable vote in the fall, Portland would be the first city in Maine to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
[Also read: ACLU sues Trump administration over census citizenship question]
