More than 300 years ago, Blacks, women and working-class immigrants spearheaded the battle against the U.S. government to allow non-citizen residents to vote in local, state and federal elections.
With their landmark effort, 22 states, including New York, and federal territories approved non-citizen voting from the 1770s to 1920s, and some non-citizens held public offices such as alderman, coroner and school board member. In 1804 New York, however, was denied its non-citizen residents the right to vote in state and local elections.
Last week, with the continuing campaign for the Voting Rights Restoration Act in New York City, members of advocacy groups expressed hope that history could repeat itself, as Blacks and immigrants play an integral role, in reinstating non-citizen voting rights for legal New York residents.
“It’s time to recognize that Blacks deserve to raise their voices,” said Cheryl Wertz, director of Government Access for New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE). “It’s very important for all New Yorkers to be directly involved in a democratic process. It’s great for the neighborhoods.”
While Blacks and immigrants in general have clamored for representatives who could address their needs in the administration, Wertz said that the government has widened the divide between the two communities over the years.
“Those who have a stake in maintaining the status quo have been pitting the African-American community against the immigrant community for too long. It’s time we realized that all of us need quality public education, access to health care and affordable housing,” Wertz said, adding that New Yorkers should add to the “collective call for a fair distribution of services.”
Revisiting Intro 628
The Voting Rights Restoration Act, known as Intro 628, seeks to allow documented non-citizens 18 years of age or older who have lived in New York City for six months or longer the right to vote in local elections for mayor, City Council, borough president, public advocate, and comptroller. Former Councilman Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) sponsored the bill in the spring of 2005.
According to the New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights, of which NICE is a member, “there is nothing in either the U.S. or the New York State Constitution that prevents us from expanding the franchise to include non-citizen residents.”
In fact, the coalition added, the city has a history of non-citizenship voting as all residents with children in the city’s public school system, regardless of their citizenship status, had the right to vote in school board elections before the New York City school board was disbanded in 2004.
On November 14, 2005, the City Council’s Government Operations Committee, chaired by Perkins, held the first hearing on Intro 628. However, since Perkins’ term in the council ended last year, the bill needs a new sponsor.
“Unfortunately, when the sponsor’s term ends, all the proposals disappear. We need to renew it for 2006,” Wertz said. “If Perkins were still in the council, I’m sure that he could have remained the sponsor of the non-voting rights legislation.”
The coalition of advocacy groups awaits the council member who would re-introduce the bill this year. There are 51 New York City Council members, and in order to pass the Voting Rights Act, 26 members – a quorum – should vote for the bill.
The recent election of Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, the first woman and the first openly gay politician elevated to the second most powerful post in New York City’s government, has also put the coalition in an optimistic mood.
“We are crossing our fingers that Quinn would be on our side. We are excited to work with the new City Council members,” Wertz said. NICE and other members of the New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights are working actively to have a sponsor by mid February 2006.
Population, felons and non-citizen voting
The 2000 U.S. Census pegged the total adult population of New York City at 6,032,339. Of that number, about 245,303 were non-citizen members of the Black community (African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans and Africans). Seventeen percent of the city’s adult population could not vote because of their citizenship status.
But according to Joseph Hayden, coordinator for Unlock the Block – a movement challenging the New York State law that prohibits felons in prison or on parole from voting – the number of Blacks who are disenfranchised is certainly bigger than the census figures.
“In New York State, about 52 percent of prisoners are Black and 33 percent Latino. We cannot understand why the state would not give felons the right to vote,” Hayden said. “Whether they have been convicted for the crimes they made, they have their family and loved ones outside the prison. They connect with their own community; they are alive.”
He also added that even people who have served their jail term and are reintegrated into society still don’t vote due to their lack of knowledge about the voting rights law.
“Many former felons believe that their right to vote was absolutely taken away from them when they went to prison. They don’t know that it automatically comes back as soon as they complete their sentence. But the government doesn’t do anything to educate former felons about it,” he said.
Asked how he sees the future of voting rights for felons in the state, Hayden said that “optimism must always be treated with reality as a large population still resists change.”
Presently, Maine and Vermont are the only two states that give voting rights to felons. In New York City, the anti-felony disenfranchisement and the non-citizen voting campaigns have been working closely together since the Voting Restoration Act was first introduced.
“While targeting different populations, both campaigns are centered around the idea that if you live in a community, and if you pay taxes, you should have a voice in the decision-making process. We want everyone to be aware of the issue. Every New Yorker must reach out to the City Council members and Mayor Bloomberg,” Wertz said.
