NEW YORK (AP) — In New York City, long a beacon for immigrants, noncitizens are about to win an important civic duty: The right to vote. New York is poised to become the largest U.S. city to give access to the ballot box to those with green cards or legally authorized to work in the country. The City Council is expected to ratify the measure this week, allowing some 800,000 noncitizens to help pick mayors, borough presidents and city council members. Mayor Bill de Blasio has concerns about the legislation, but says he won’t veto it. Noncitizens still couldn’t vote for president, members of Congress or in state elections that pick the governor, judges and legislators.
Photo: FILE – Absentee ballots sit in a ballot box during early voting in the primary election, Monday, June 14, 2021, at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua in the Soho neighborhood of New York. New York City, long a beacon for immigrants, is on the cusp of becoming the largest place in the U.S. to give noncitizens the right to vote. Legally documented, voting-age noncitizens, who comprise nearly one in 10 of the city’s 8.8 million inhabitants, would be allowed to cast votes in elections to pick the mayor, City Council members and other municipal officeholders under a bill nearing approval.(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
