Non-citizen suffrage in the United States

[4] U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin has argued that the blanket exclusion of noncitizens from the ballot is neither constitutionally required nor historically normal.

[3] For example, in 1875, the Supreme Court in Minor v. Happersett noted that "citizenship has not in all cases been made a condition precedent to the enjoyment of the right of suffrage.

Thus, in Missouri, persons of foreign birth, who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, may under certain circumstances vote.

[17] At the turn of the twentieth century, anti-immigration feeling ran high, and Alabama stopped allowing non-citizens to vote by way of a constitutional change in 1901; Colorado followed suit in 1902, Wisconsin in 1908, and Oregon in 1914.

[19] In 1918, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota all changed their constitutions to purge non-citizen suffrage, and Texas ended the practice of noncitizen voting in primary elections by statute.

"[21] 1776–1819[4] 1776–1831[4] 1789–1799[4] 1776–1851[4] 1792–1814[4] 1776–1820[4] 1777 New York State Constitution, Article VII: "[E]very male inhabitant of full age, who shall have personally resided within one of the counties of this State for six months immediately preceding the day of election, shall, at such election, be entitled to vote for representatives of the said county in assembly; if, during the time aforesaid, he shall have been a freeholder, possessing a freehold of the value of twenty pounds, within the said county, or have rented a tenement therein of the yearly value of forty shillings, and been rated and actually paid taxes to this State: Provided always, That every person who now is a freeman of the city of Albany, or who was made a freeman of the city of New York on or before the fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and shall be actually and usually resident in the said cities, respectively, shall be entitled to vote for representatives in assembly within his said place of residence.

Localities with non-citizen voting in local elections include: In November 2016 voters in San Francisco approved a proposal to allow just the parents of children in the San Francisco school system to vote in school board elections regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.

[70] On July 29, 2022, ordinance 206-21, which allowed noncitizens to vote in San Francisco school board elections, was struck down before being upheld in August 2023 along with a similar measure in Oakland.

[71] Montpelier citizens passed a charter change on November 6, 2018 that would afford full voting rights in municipal elections to any legal non-citizens residing in the city.

[73] Approval for all localities was granted by the Vermont state legislature in June 2021, overriding the veto of Governor Phil Scott.