"I
write today to support the rights of noncitizen town residents to vote in
their local elections. This simple, yet fundamental right will increase
civic participation, make our democracy truly representative and improve the
quality of life of all Massachusetts residents. Moreover, allowing
immigrants to vote in local elections will better protect their rights as
individuals, and create a constituency elected officials can work with for
generations to come."
--Ali Noorani,
Executive Director
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee
Advocacy Center
CLICK HERE for MIRA's March 15, 2004
testimony to the Massachusetts state assembly in favor of HB 4540 and
Amherst SB 2029 Home Rule Petitions to Enfranchise Noncitizen Town
Residents.
Current Status
February
2005.
Legislators in February 2005 re-filed a home rule petition (specifically
naming Cambridge, MA) and enabling act to allow adult noncitizen residents
to vote in municipal elections. Previous versions were filed in 2003 and
2004.
In the mid-1990s and again in 2003, the towns of Amherst and Cambridge both
voted to approve immigrant voting rights but are awaiting enabling
legislation on the state level. Advocates now are seeking to have the
municipalities' home rule petitions voted on in the elections laws
committee. (Cambridge, Mass. Order #08 passed on May 5, 2003. City Council
www.cambridgema.gov. Amherst, Mass.
Special Act "Resident Aliens" passed by Town Assembly on 4-28-03.) The
municipalities of Somerville, Chelsea, and Everett have also raised the
possibility. An resident voting rights campaign is very active in
Newton, which held public meetings and hearings
over the course of Fall 2004.
In Cambridge, the campaign for resident voting grew out of struggles
to protect and defend housing and other basic services for immigrants. In
1993, the Campaign for Immigrant Voting Rights launched an initiative
spearheaded by the "Eviction Free Zone," a non profit organization dedicated
to protecting affordable housing for low-income residents. Other immigrant
rights and civic groups become endorsers/members of the coalition.
Immigrants comprise a sizable portion of the population in Cambridge. The
1990 Census showed there were 21,350 foreign born residents, 14,754 of whom
were noncitizens (the total population was just under 100,000). Thus, nearly
15% of Cambridge's residents were non-citizens and more than 20% were
foreign born. The number of immigrants rose even higher by 2000.
In 1999, the Cambridge City Council passed legislation allowing documented
(legal) non-citizens to vote in school board elections, so long as they
declared their intent to become citizens. (The Campaign for Immigrant Voting
Rights had originally petitioned the City Council to permit non-citizens to
vote in both school board and city council elections.) After intensive and
sustained organizing and lobbying, the Cambridge City Council voted in 2003
to expand resident voting to all municipal elections (i.e. both city council
and school board elections). Moreover, Cambridge's legislation makes no
distinction between documented (legal) and undocumented (illegal)
non-citizen residents, though it did retain the provision that such voters
must declare their intent to become citizens. In Amherst, the legislation
that passed would allow legal permanent residents to vote in local
elections.
In Amherst, Vladimir Morales, a native of Puerto Rico and a School
Committee member since 1985 (and member of the Town Assembly), has led the
fight for resident voting. Morales has built a cadre of activists and allies
who together have persuaded the town to pass local legislation three times.
Other towns in Massachusetts have launched similar campaigns, including
Somerville, Chelsea, and Everett. Several state legislators have championed
the legislation (Rep. Alice Wolf, along with Jarrett Barrios for Cambridge
and Ellen Story for Amherst), but the state legislature has yet to pass home
rule petitions that would enable the localities to implement these local
laws.
Kathy Coll from
the Cambridge Campaign for Immigrant Voting Rights says, "Our movement owes
a tremendous debt to those who've struggled for the right to vote before us.
Cambridge has a long tradition of sharing the vote. For example, in 1879,
forty years before the federal government enfranchised women, women in
Cambridge were enfranchised in School Board, tax and bond elections.
"In addition to
being surprised when they learn about the long history of noncitizen voting
in the U.S., public officials are often most impressed when they learn about
the terribly long timeline to naturalization for so many immigrants. Most
non-immigrants don't realize that depending on your nationality and visa
status upon entry, that you can wait twenty years to become eligible to
naturalize. This situation has gotten worse rather than better in the last
ten years of changes to federal immigration law. It's not "just" about
backlogs, but about institutional barriers to even obtaining the legal
permanent resident status, much less citizenship. How many people are
disenfranchised and underrepresented during all those years? How many
U.S.-born as well as immigrant children are without political representation
through the exclusion of their parents from local elections? Immigrants who
have/are themselves going through these long and complicated processes offer
the most compelling personal testimonies about the importance of noncitizen
voting in our meetings with elected officials."
CONTACT
FOR THE CAMPAIGN FOR IMMIGRANT VOTING RIGHTS
Ali
Noorani
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee
Advocacy Coalition
105 Chaunch Street #901
Boston, MA 02111
Phone: 617-350-5480
Fax: 617-350-5499
[When entering addresses into "To" field please remove spaces inserted
below]
anoorani @ miracoalition . org
or
Centro Presente
56 Essex St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
or email the contact below
[When entering addresses into "To" field please remove spaces inserted
below]
Maria Elena Letona: mletona @ cpresente . org
HISTORY
Click
HERE for
the history of noncitizen residents voting in Massachusetts.
ARTICLES ABOUT THE MASSACHUSETTS CAMPAIGNS FOR IMMIGRANT VOTING RIGHTS
The
Newton Tab
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Immigrant voting debated
By Sarah Andrews/ Staff Writer
....At a public hearing tonight, Wednesday, Newton residents will discuss
whether non-citizen, permanent residents such as Rolfe should be allowed to
vote in local elections. The proposal, which was put forth by Alderman Ted
Hess-Mahan, won the approval of the Programs and Services Committee on Oct.
20 and could go before the full board as early as Dec. 6.
READ MORE
The Newton Tab
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Editorial: Give immigrants the right
to vote
No matter where you were born, if you're a taxpaying
resident of Newton, you share common concerns with your neighbor. Taxes are
going up? You'll both pay more. Schools are charging bus fees? You will both
be getting out your checkbooks. An alderman wears an offensive T-shirt? You
should be able to chose whether he stays or goes.
READ MORE
The Newton
(MA) TAB
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Voting rights for immigrants
By Ted Hess-Mahan
....In Massachusetts, Cambridge and Amherst have sought permission from the
legislature to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections and other
cities and towns, like Somerville, Everett and Chelsea, are moving in the
same direction. Getting legislative approval may take some time, but it can
be done.
The Board of
Aldermen will soon have an opportunity to decide whether Newton will join
other progressive communities in pursuing local voting rights for legal
immigrants who are not yet citizens. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of
immigrants living in Newton has grown by more than half to over 15,000 -
almost one in five residents. The number of non-citizens has likewise
increased to almost one in 12 Newton residents. They come from all over the
globe, represent every race and color, and include rich and poor, young and
old, homeowners and renters.
[READ MORE]
"Newest
arrivals avoid politics" Sunday, August 25, 2002 By Kevin Keenan
Telegram & Gazette Staff
"Uncertain gains" Lombardi, Kristen. Boston Phoenix. May 20,
2000. Uncertain gains: Cambridge wants to let more people vote, and it could
transform local politics. But giving more people the right to vote doesn't
mean they'll use it.
Donn, Jeff.
"Mass. Town Considers Granting Vote to Non-citizens." Associated Press,
October 21, 1998.
Hurley, Mary.
Cambridge Seeks Local Voting Rights for Noncitizens, The Boston Globe,
at B7 (Nov. 7, 2000).
Hurley, Mary.
City Weekly/Cambridge Notes, "School Vote Eyed for Noncitizens," The
Boston Globe, Feb. 21, 1999, City Weekly Section, at 6.
Casual
Citizenship? The Boston Globe, Oct. 31, 1998, at A18
McLaughlin,
Abraham.
"A
Move to Extend Vote to Immigrants" A Massachusetts town decides tonight
whether its noncitizens should have the right to cast ballots in local
elections. The Christian Science Monitor October 26, 1998
Nicole Cusano,
"Amherst Mulls Giving Noncitizens Right to Vote," The Boston Globe,
Oct. 26, 1998, at B1
Last updated
February 13, 2005
