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Mr. Morshed Alam
President, ABFA "Legal immigrants pay taxes like others. They should have voting rights in local elections to choose a representative who will help them with local issues every day."
Mr. Partha Banerjee Former Executive Director, New Jersey Immigration Policy Network “When we know that immigrants vote in twenty two countries but the USA is not one of them, it bothers me. On one hand, we’re preaching about the so-called land of immigrants, equal opportunity, freedom for all and other feel-good rhetoric, and at the same time practicing just the opposite. This is hypocrisy. Voting rights for legal immigrants must be a cornerstone for us if we really want to believe we’re an open, free and democratic country.”
New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane “[Non-citizen voting] isn’t just good policy, it’s also smart policy. Voting is an extension of community involvement and while it is not a panacea to social woes, providing residents with the power of the vote means they are more likely to take an active role in community organizations, block associations, parent associations, police precinct councils and countless other community and neighborhood groups.”
Mr. José A. García Vice President for Policy, Institute for Puerto Rican Policy “John Locke argued that a government is not legitimate if it does not have the consent of the governed. In a place like NYC, the governed includes non-citizen populations what make-up the majority of some of our neighborhoods.”
Mr. Ron Hayduk Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) and representative of the Professional Staff Congress "Why should immigrants pay taxes but have no say in how their hard earned money is spent? This taxation without representation is un-American and it is un-democratic. Restoring immigrant voting rights would be a huge stride toward achieving true universal suffrage."
New York City Council Member Letitia James “As an elected official in New York City, I strive to serve all of my constituents, but when so many New York City residents aren’t counted in the political process, our democracy cannot truly be representative.”
New York State Senator John W. Lavelle “Who has a greater stake in our society than a recent immigrant? To deny them the right to vote is not what this nation is about.”
Mr. Bill Lynch Former Deputy Mayor “This bill asks us to share power with our neighbors—people who live next door to us and in some cases have been here longer than us. The Council should pass this bill not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it promises to greatly enrich our civic life. We NEED the participation of hundreds of thousands of immigrant voters.”
Mr. Chuck MohanPresident, Guyanese-American Workers United "Voting is a human right."
Mr. Sri Peddu Volunteer, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) “The right to VOTE is the most basic way of ‘counting’ a human being and addressing his or her human rights. By expanding the franchise to the non-citizen immigrant community, the onus of holding elected representatives accountable and the legitimacy of government, in the way it allocates public services and resources, would then reside in the control of ALL members of the City. In a representative democracy, that is true empowerment.”
Former New York City Council Member Bill Perkins "The essence of citizenship is not simply the right to vote…the right to vote is the essense of democracy. That is why I want the franchise expanded and to be inclusive."
Mr. Bryan Pu-Folkes Former Executive Director, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) “This is not an extreme policy proposal. In New York City immigrants voted in school board elections for almost 30 years. Immigrants in several cities in Maryland have been voting in municipal elections for over 10 years. Immigrants vote in over 20 countries, on every continent. This is not an extreme policy proposal, quite the contrary it is keeping within the American tradition of ensuring a strong, robust, and working democracy.”
Jamin B. Raskin Professor of Law at American University “Democracy requires participation by everyone and it is good for all of us when all of our neighbors participate.”
New York City Council Member Diana Reyna "One of the biggest challenges to bringing resources to Williamsburg and Bushwick is harnessing the potential power of the many immigrant residents. Empowering these residents would change the political equation and give immigrant communities equal footing with the rest of the city."
New York State Assemblymember Annette M. Robinson “The right to vote and the assurance of that vote being counted provides confidence that democracy is still the American way of life.”
New York Council City Member Kendall Stewart "Just because we all are here and have our citizenship and the right to vote does not mean that we should forget those who have just arrived."
Ms. Theresa Thanjan Community member and filmaker "Being a citizen, I've always been disheartened by the empty voting booths in my district; not only for general elections but even more so, for local elections. I strongly believe if given the chance, the large numbers of immigrants in my district would exercise their right to vote, and they would consider it to be a privilege. Immigrant voting is tied to the core principles of the Constitution based on inclusion, not exclusion. It is both democratic and necessary. Voting=power=empowerment.”
Ms. Michele Wucker Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute “With record numbers of immigrants, it is extremely important that we as a nation send incipient Americans the message that we want and expect them to take a stake in their adopted communities. Resident voting rights encourage immigrants to make a commitment to local citizenship, which is the first step toward eventual naturalization and being engaged, involved Americans.”
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