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New York's highest court strikes down noncitizen voting in NYC
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Mar 20, 2025
Modified Mar 20, 2025
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KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Mar 20, 2025
Modified Mar 20, 2025
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New York City’s controversial local law that would have allowed some people without U.S. citizenship to vote in city elections was ruled unconstitutional by the state’s highest court in a decision released Thursday.
“Whatever the future may bring, the New York Constitution as it stands today draws a firm line restricting voting to citizens,” Court of Appeals Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote in the 6-1 majority opinion issued Thursday. Associate Judge Jenny Rivera was the lone dissenter.
The ruling caps a protracted battle over who is permitted to vote in New York City’s municipal elections and puts an end, for now, to the fight to enfranchise more than 800,000 noncitizens who were legally living, working or going to school in the five boroughs.
The law, which the New York City Council passed in late 2021, would have allowed city residents with certain legal status – including green cards, work authorization and DACA status – to vote in city elections for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president and the Council.
The law took effect in January 2022, just nine days after Mayor Eric Adams took office. The next day, Republicans led by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella filed a lawsuit arguing that New York's Constitution restricted voting rights in all elections to U.S. citizens and that the law would dilute citizens’ votes. The suit set off a three-year legal battle.
A state Supreme Court judge in Staten Island ruled in their favor in 2022, as did an appellate court last year. The City Council then appealed to the state’s top court.
“For what should be the final time, common sense has prevailed,” Fossella said in a statement Thursday. “From day one we maintained that the plain language of the New York State Constitution does not extend the right to vote to noncitizens. We are thankful the Court of Appeals saw it the same way, and by a significant margin.”
Supporters of the measure, including the City Council and civil rights advocates and attorneys from the organization LatinoJustice PRLDEF, appealed two lower-court decisions before arguing the measure before the Court of Appeals in February. They said the city had the right to determine who could participate in its local elections.
“The highest court in New York State has spoken. We respect the court’s ruling,” said Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesperson for the city Law Department, which was defending the law on behalf of the City Council.
In a statement, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said that while the Council also respected the ruling, “we disagree that the State Constitution bars municipalities from expanding the local franchise to noncitizens as noted by Justice Rivera in her dissent.”
Adams, who is running for mayor, noted that the Council did agree with certain parts of the court’s ruling, which found that the way the Council passed the noncitizen voting law was legitimate.
“The Council, as always, will continue to support and protect our immigrant community members,” she added.
Cesar Ruiz, associate counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, called the decision a “terrible setback for our immigrant communities who contribute so much to the well-being of the city.”
“Sadly, this decision aligns with the desires of those in this country who at this moment are persecuting immigrants and want to erase their influence and presence in our society, and reinforces systemic barriers that actively strip immigrants of opportunities for representation, protection and inclusion,” Ruiz said. He added that LatinoJustice will continue to fight for policies that support all New Yorkers, even those who are not U.S. citizens.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Tagged
new york city
new york state
Politics
elections
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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