Eric Adams, the newly-elected mayor of New York City, will allow an estimated 800,000 noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Adams also insisted the idea doesn’t water down American citizenship because “membership has its privileges,” per BizPacReview.
Adams had 30 days to veto the bill, which requires 30 days of residency to vote. The bill was approved by the City Council in a vote of 33 to 14 in December. And, even after previously expressing misgivings about the legislation, he allowed it to go through.
“I think there are a lot of Americans watching right now who might share your concerns and also have, more broadly, questions about the idea of people who have not taken a citizenship test, prepared for that test by learning about the U.S., who haven’t sworn an oath to the country, getting to vote. Why did you change your mind?” CNN host Jake Tapper asked Adams.
“I did not change my mind,” Adams replied. “I supported the concept of the bill. The one aspect that I had a problem with, I thought was problematic, was the 30-day part, being in the country for 30 days, was the place I had questions.”
“I sat down with my colleagues. I’m a big believer in conversation. We have to start talking to each other and not at each other. And after hearing their rationale and their theories behind it, I thought it was more important to not veto the bill or get in the way at all and allow the bill to move forward. In New York City, just Brooklyn, for example, 47 percent of Brooklynites speak a language other than English at home when I was the borough president. And so I think it’s imperative that people who are in a local municipality have the right to decide who is going to govern them, and I support the overall concept of that bill.”
The city’s board of elections must come up with an implementation plan by July that will prevent noncitizen voting in federal and state elections in a state where no voter ID is required.
