A Los Angeles City Council member has introduced a proposal that would allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, setting up a potential ballot measure for voters to decide this November.
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents a district stretching from Echo Park to Hollywood, released the proposal Wednesday alongside Councilmember Ysabel Jurado. The measure would ask voters on the Nov. 3 ballot to grant the council the power to let noncitizens cast ballots in city elections, including races for mayor, City Council, and the Los Angeles Board of Education.
Soto-Martínez, whose parents were once undocumented immigrants, said the initiative would empower immigrant communities during a time of heightened federal enforcement. According to reporting on the proposal, he told the Los Angeles Times, “After my parents immigrated here from Mexico, they worked hard, paid taxes, and raised their children in our public schools, but for decades they had no say in the decisions shaping their community until they became citizens.”
Supporters of the proposal argue that noncitizens—including green card holders and DACA recipients—already contribute to the city through taxes and deserve a voice in local governance. Angelica Salas, who heads the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, framed the issue as “taxation without representation.” “They get taxed the same way. They send their kids to the schools. They have to deal with the repercussions of the decisions of their representatives,” she said. “So they should have a say as to who represents them.”
However, the proposal has drawn criticism from multiple angles. Dylan Kendall, who is running against Soto-Martínez, expressed concern that creating a registry of noncitizen voters could expose undocumented residents to greater danger from federal immigration enforcement. “What he’s proposing now sounds less like protecting our community and more like asking people to sign onto a public list that exposes undocumented neighbors to greater danger,” she told The Times.
Other opponents say the measure undermines the value of citizenship itself. One critic said the idea “undermines the whole concept of citizenship,” though they were not identified in available reporting. The proposal comes as President Trump’s administration has ramped up immigration enforcement nationwide and as a separate statewide voter ID initiative has qualified for California’s November ballot, which would require government-issued identification for in-person voting.
The proposal still faces significant hurdles before it can become reality. The City Council must first vote to place the measure on the ballot. If voters approve it in November, the council would then need to pass an ordinance revising city election law to implement noncitizen voting. The proposal has been referred to the council’s rules committee for consideration.
Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. However, states retain the authority to set their own rules for local and statewide elections, meaning the proposed Los Angeles measure would not conflict with federal statute.
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