Legislation prohibiting noncitizens from voting in local elections in Washington, D.C. passed the House Tuesday after 56 Democrats backed the Republican-led measure.
The bill repeals the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 that allowed noncitizens, so long as they had resided in the nation’s capital for 30 days, to vote in local elections. Voting in federal elections as a noncitizen is a federal crime.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the legislation establishes “common-sense protections” for local D.C. elections, which include the offices of mayor and attorney general, city council seats and ballot measures.
“The right to vote is a defining privilege of American citizenship,” Comer told lawmakers. “Diluting that right by extending it to noncitizens, whether here legally or illegally, undermines the voice of Washington, D.C. residents.”
Democrats who voted against the measure accused Republican lawmakers of overruling the will of D.C. residents to “score political points” by “demonizing immigrants.” They argued it is “highly unlikely” that foreign diplomats or undocumented immigrants would take advantage of the 2022 law.
However, Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., pointed out that D.C. already doesn’t require photo ID of voters, further “weaken[ing] election integrity” when coupled with the voting expansion. He accused Democrats of using the city as “a petri dish for liberalizing voting laws across the country.”
“In my opinion, it’s absolutely nuts that we protect our beer better than our ballot in our nation’s capital,” Steil added.
Lawmakers also passed the Protecting Our Nation’s Capital Emergency Act, which restores D.C. law enforcement officers’ right to collectively bargain over disciplinary policy, as well as restores the statute of limitations for bringing disciplinary cases against D.C. police officers.
Four Republicans voted against the bill while 30 Democrats voted in favor and one voted present.
The majority of Republicans argued the bill would boost law enforcement morale and empower officers to do their jobs. The majority of Democrats argued the changes are unnecessary and will undo “vital reforms.”
“This is not about public safety,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., told lawmakers Tuesday. “It’s about taking away [the] home rule of Washington, D.C., and it’s about taking away, once again, the rights of the people of this city.”
The bills now move to the Senate for consideration.
