Post by oldetowne on Oct 11, 2006 7:33:30 GMT -5
From today's Courant. I'm sure DiStefano would support this in a minute.
Noncitizens' Right To Vote Advocated
By MARK SPENCER
Courant Staff Writer
October 11 2006
WETHERSFIELD -- In the roiling national debate over immigration, Ron Hayduk has devoted himself to a cause that catches even some ardent immigrant rights activists by surprise.
In a book published this year and in a presentation here at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center Tuesday, Hayduk argued that noncitizen immigrants, such as legal permanent residents, should have the right to vote.
Although Hayduk acknowledges that the idea initially strikes many people as far-fetched, he said there is a small but growing movement to restore - that's right, restore - the vote to noncitizens, especially when it comes to local elections.
"Voting never was about citizenship, historically," Hayduk, an associate professor of political science at the Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York.
Although he advocates noncitizen voting at all levels of government, he said it is most politically viable at the local level, where government decisions on issues such as education and public safety directly impact people.
In "Democracy for All, Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States," Hayduk says that prior to 1920 about 40 states and federal territories allowed immigrants to vote in local, state or federal elections.
Connecticut allowed voting by noncitizens from 1776 to 1819, but became the second state, after New York, to eliminate the practice. Arkansas became the last state to ban noncitizen voting, in 1926.
"This history has essentially been eviscerated from our national memory," he said.
Currently, noncitizens are allowed to vote and run for office in six localities in Maryland and can vote in school district elections in Chicago. The city councils in Amherst and Cambridge, Mass., have asked the state legislature for approval to allow it in their local elections.
Nationally, Hayduk said, more than 40 cities, towns or voting districts have recently considered the move or are now discussing it.
A bill in the Connecticut state legislature in 2003 that would have allowed some noncitizens to vote in town meetings and referendums made it through one committee, but died in another.
Joyce Hamilton Henry, executive director of DemocracyWorks, which sponsored Hayduk's appearance, said her organization would back a bill if it was reintroduced.
Yvonne B. Krosky, who attended the event, came to the United States from Poland in 1981, became a citizen and now teaches citizenship preparatory classes in New Britain.
Krosky said she had been unaware noncitizens ever had the vote. She believes that only citizens should be able to vote in state and federal elections, but feels differently about local elections.
"I think it makes sense in local elections, where you have referendums on your taxes, schools, building roads, the schools," she said.
Contact Mark Spencer at mspencer@courant.com.
Noncitizens' Right To Vote Advocated
By MARK SPENCER
Courant Staff Writer
October 11 2006
WETHERSFIELD -- In the roiling national debate over immigration, Ron Hayduk has devoted himself to a cause that catches even some ardent immigrant rights activists by surprise.
In a book published this year and in a presentation here at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center Tuesday, Hayduk argued that noncitizen immigrants, such as legal permanent residents, should have the right to vote.
Although Hayduk acknowledges that the idea initially strikes many people as far-fetched, he said there is a small but growing movement to restore - that's right, restore - the vote to noncitizens, especially when it comes to local elections.
"Voting never was about citizenship, historically," Hayduk, an associate professor of political science at the Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York.
Although he advocates noncitizen voting at all levels of government, he said it is most politically viable at the local level, where government decisions on issues such as education and public safety directly impact people.
In "Democracy for All, Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the United States," Hayduk says that prior to 1920 about 40 states and federal territories allowed immigrants to vote in local, state or federal elections.
Connecticut allowed voting by noncitizens from 1776 to 1819, but became the second state, after New York, to eliminate the practice. Arkansas became the last state to ban noncitizen voting, in 1926.
"This history has essentially been eviscerated from our national memory," he said.
Currently, noncitizens are allowed to vote and run for office in six localities in Maryland and can vote in school district elections in Chicago. The city councils in Amherst and Cambridge, Mass., have asked the state legislature for approval to allow it in their local elections.
Nationally, Hayduk said, more than 40 cities, towns or voting districts have recently considered the move or are now discussing it.
A bill in the Connecticut state legislature in 2003 that would have allowed some noncitizens to vote in town meetings and referendums made it through one committee, but died in another.
Joyce Hamilton Henry, executive director of DemocracyWorks, which sponsored Hayduk's appearance, said her organization would back a bill if it was reintroduced.
Yvonne B. Krosky, who attended the event, came to the United States from Poland in 1981, became a citizen and now teaches citizenship preparatory classes in New Britain.
Krosky said she had been unaware noncitizens ever had the vote. She believes that only citizens should be able to vote in state and federal elections, but feels differently about local elections.
"I think it makes sense in local elections, where you have referendums on your taxes, schools, building roads, the schools," she said.
Contact Mark Spencer at mspencer@courant.com.