College Park, Md. voted to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections Tuesday night.
After several votes, the council eventually voted 4-3 to allow legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants to take part in upcoming municipal elections. One council member did not vote.
Initially, the city council of the Washington, D.C., suburb voted 4-4 on the first measure, a nonbinding referendum, sending the deciding vote to Mayor Patrick Wojahn, who voted against it.
BREAKING: College Park City Council votes 4-3 to allow non-citizens to vote in city elections even if they are illegally in the country.
— Tom Roussey (@tomrousseyABC7) September 13, 2017
The council then took up the idea of voting for permanent residents, which would have excluded undocumented immigrants. The amendment also received a 4-4 vote and a tie-breaking “no” vote from the mayor.
The council then voted on allowing all non-citizens to vote, which passed.
The measure was supposed to be voted on in August, but was delayed after threats were made to members.
Wojahn said he hoped delaying the vote would bring less attention to the matter.
About two dozen people spoke at the meeting.
Those in favor of the proposal who spoke at the meeting said it would make the city, which is home to the University of Maryland, more inclusive. Others called it a violation of the Constitution.
The meeting had three possible outcomes: The council could say yea or nay to the measure, it could convene a commission to study and make a recommendation, or it could call for a nonbinding referendum.
A majority of the comments posted to the city’s website were overwhelmingly opposed to the measure.
Takoma Park became the first city in Maryland to allow the practice after voters narrowly approved the measure in 1991.
Officials in the District of Columbia have repeatedly considered allowing non-citizens to vote but have decided against it. New York City extended voting privileges to non-citizens in school board elections until 2002.
