A pair of Republican lawmakers in
Congress
are poised to introduce legislation that would repeal a law passed by the D.C. Council last year
allowing undocumented residents to vote
in local elections beginning in 2024.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. James Comer (R-KY) announced on Thursday they plan to introduce a bill that would
disapprove of the law
, triggering a mechanism that requires Congress to review the legislation and decide whether to toss it out.
DC COUNCIL ADVANCES MEASURE TO ALLOW NONCITIZENS TO VOTE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS
“Allowing illegal immigrants to vote is an insult to every voter in America,” Cotton
said in a statement
. “Every single Democrat should be on the record about whether they support this insane policy.”
Cotton and Comer’s
joint resolution
comes three months after D.C. lawmakers passed a bill that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, following the lead of a handful of small towns in Maryland, such as Hyattsville and Takoma Park, that already have similar laws in place.
Advocates of the bill have argued for years that legal noncitizens should have the right to vote in local elections because they pay taxes and are directly affected by city laws. Opponents have countered that voting rights should be withheld until full citizenship is attained.
District lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2021 in mid-October after years of similar proposals failing to make headway in the city council. However, because Washington, D.C., is not a state, its laws are subject to congressional approval — giving Republicans in Congress an opportunity to block legislation they disagree with.
House Republicans previously sought to block measures allowing undocumented residents to vote in Washington elections last summer, with
30 signing on to a bill
that would ban the district from allowing such a provision.
Cotton and Comer’s latest push to block noncitizens from voting prompted pushback from local lawmakers, with many using the opportunity to advocate for D.C. statehood.
“I’m sure Sen. Cotton & Rep. Comer don’t think Congress should be able to make and override the laws of Arkansas & Kentucky,”
Councilmember Brianne Nadeau
, who co-introduced the bill, said on
Twitter
. “This is exactly why Congress must make DC the 51st state. The law they are seeking to disapprove allows local residents to vote in local elections on matters that affect them directly. I’m in favor of giving people representation in the matters that affect them.”
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Washingotn, D.C., is home to a large number of undocumented residents as roughly one in seven residents is an immigrant, according to the
American Immigration Council
.
