NYC Council announces appeal of ruling that invalidated city’s noncitizen voting law

The City Council asked the state’s highest court Monday to reverse a ruling that struck down a law giving hundreds of thousands of noncitizen New Yorkers the right to vote in local elections.

The law was first invalidated in June 2022 by Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio, who found it violated state election laws holding that only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote. The ruling prompted Mayor Adams’ administration to file an appeal, but the Supreme Court’s appellate division rejected it last month and upheld Porzio’s decision.

On Monday afternoon, a spokesman for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced the city Law Department had filed a notice on behalf of the Council asking that the State Court of Appeals, New York’s top court, undo the Porzio ruling and allow the noncitizen voting law to take effect.

“Empowering New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process can only strengthen New York City by increasing civic engagement,” the spokesman, Rendy Desamours, said in a statement. “We look forward to the Court of Appeals’ consideration of the Council’s appeal.”

Spokespeople for the mayor did not immediately return requests for comment on whether his office will file its own appeal to the top court. The deadline for filing a notice of appeal in the case is Monday.

The Council’s action came on the heels of attorneys from the nonprofit LatinoJustice law firm filing their own otice this past Friday calling on the State Court of Appeals to reverse Porzio’s ruling.

On Monday morning, reps from LatinoJustice joined immigration advocates on the City Hall steps to urge the mayor to team up with them in the appeal push.

“We really hope that Mayor Adams joins us in this case,” said Nora Moran, a policy director at the United Neighborhood Houses, one of several groups that took part in the rally.

Porzio’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and a group of other local Republican politicians. The GOP pols have argued that granting noncitizens the right to vote in local elections would dilute the electoral power of citizens and violate the state constitution.

Supporters of the law, which was passed by the City Council in December 2021, say it’s morally sound to let noncitizen residents vote in local elections, given that they pay local taxes.

The law doesn’t give undocumented immigrants the ability to vote, but only extends that right to noncitizens with legal status, such as green card holders, as long as they’ve maintained New York residency for at least 30 days. According to the City Council, the law would make about 800,000 immigrants in New York City eligible to vote.

The law only gives noncitizens the right to cast ballots in municipal elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president and City Council. It does not expand the right to vote in federal and state elections.

Eva Santos Veloz, a 34-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic who resides legally in the U.S. thanks to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said on the City Hall steps that the city’s large immigrant community continues to be “ignored.” She argued the noncitizen voting law could change that.

“We are not just fighting for ourselves, but for the future of our city, our children,” she said.