最新蜜桃影像

The midterm elections are barely over and already the council is debating legislation on who is eligible to vote in upcoming local elections. This could have a great impact D.C. residents.听

The new bill would give the right to vote in local elections to lawful permanent residents, also called green card holders, who live in D.C. Last year, the highest number of green cards delivered in D.C. was to Salvadorans, according to 听And Salvadorans represent of Ward 1鈥檚 population, US Census data shows.

The process of getting a green card is complex, and 听

Kush Kharod, one of the organizers of the Local Resident Voting Rights coalition, is the son of Indian parents who are green card holders.听

鈥淐oming from a family of immigrants,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 know what the struggle is.鈥�

He is fairly confident that Mayor Muriel Bowser will sign the bill and send it to Congress for review. Bowser has until Nov. 21 to sign.

Kharod said Bowser already supported when she was a Ward 4 council member. The same bill was introduced in 2014, , , and .听

This year, Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau sponsored the bill, with the help of six other council members. On Oct. 18, 12voted in favor of the bill, with Vincent Gray absent. It was officially transmitted to Bowser Nov. 4.听

鈥淭he District of Columbia has long been a place that has welcomed immigrants into our community, and it鈥檚 time to allow for their full participation in our institutions,鈥� Nadeau said in a .听

During an August 2022 hearing before the council鈥檚 , Jose Barrios, the president of the D.C. Latino Caucus, supported this bill.

鈥淚f permanent residents are an essential part of our cultural fabric, if they support our economy as workers and entrepreneurs, if they pay large amounts of taxes, if their kids are in our schools, if they enjoy our parks and local events if they can contribute to their preferred political candidates, and perhaps most importantly if they can die in service to our country, then they also deserve to be able to vote in local elections that matter to them,鈥� Barrios told the committee.

Lance Swinton, a teacher at Columbia Heights Educational Campus, echoed this when 最新蜜桃影像 interviewed him at a vote center on Election Day 2022. 鈥淚 feel like if they occupy the space, they should be able to have a say in who makes changes,鈥� Swinton said.听

The drive to let permanent residents vote isn鈥檛 unique to D.C. To date, have extended this right, 11 of them in Maryland, as early as in 1992 in Takoma Park, MD.听

But when voters went to cast their ballot for the midterms this past Tuesday, reactions were mixed.听

鈥淭hey shouldn鈥檛 vote,鈥� Winston Brown said. 鈥淭hey are not citizens. You got to be a citizen of the United States in order to vote in the United States. You come here, you work, and you got to live, but you shouldn鈥檛 vote here.鈥澨�

Voter Natalie Boyd agreed. 鈥淭hey should wait until they are citizens. They would get the benefits before being a citizen,鈥� Boyd said.

But Lizzy B. disagreed, saying, 鈥淚f you are here legally, if you are not American but you live in this area, then local elections certainly you should have an influence.鈥� She declined to offer her last name.

If Bowser agrees to the bill, it will have to be reviewed in Congress. Congress will have to review the bill. They can decide to overturn the council鈥檚 decision.听

Some states are banning an extension of a franchise like this, . Last week, 77% of the voters cast a ballot in favor of 鈥淚ssue 2,鈥� which would prohibit noncitizens to vote.