A Bill to Ban Non-Citizens from Voting in Local DC Elections

HR 884/S ???

Author

Dusty Wilson
June 11, 2025

What is this bill?

Just to get it off my chest, I hate it when bill sponsors don’t have an official name for their legislation. It seems like half the fun of introducing an act is either coming up with a forced acronym or naming something the “Save America’s Heartland Act” when all your bill does is ask the Department of Agriculture to write a report on corn. Also, I get it, August. You’re a busy guy. This is the 3rd bill you’ve written that I’ve had to feature here. But maybe get off your ass and do what I assume counts for 10% of your job.

Anyway, what this bill lacks in name it makes up for in straightforward fashiness. Quite simply, it repeals the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022. This DC law made it legal for non-citizens to vote in local DC elections including mayor, city council, DC attorney general, state board of education representative, and neighborhood commissioner. They can also vote for citywide referendums. The law does not allow non-citizens to vote for federal offices. All non-citizens need to do to register is be 18 by the time of the election and live in DC for 30 days before the election.

But why should non-citizens be allowed to vote? The main argument in support is that if people live in a city or neighborhood, they should have the right as residents to decide who represents them. Advocates say it increases civic engagement and reduces barriers that treat immigrants as an invisible class. It also ensures that those in change cannot ignore a sizable group of people without electoral repercussions.

According to an opinion piece by Raul Reyes, it also has sound legal backing. Reyes cites the Supreme Court case Minor v. Happersett (1875), which has the dishonorable legacy of being the case that federally denied women the right to vote. In the unanimous decision, the court found that “citizenship has not in all cases been made a condition precedent to the enjoyment of the right of suffrage” and that states could decide on their own who could vote. The 19th Amendment did supersede this verdict in regards to suffrage for women and people of color, but Reyes concludes that the remaining bits of the finding means that you don’t have to be a citizen to be allowed to vote.

But if that is a little too in the past for you, in 2024, a case was brought before the federal court to try and overturn the law. Judge Amy Berman Jackson threw out the case stating that the plaintiffs had not been able to prove their vote was diminished. To quote Judge Berman Jackson: “They may object as a matter of policy to the fact that immigrants get to vote at all, but their votes will not receive any less weight or be treated different than noncitizens votes; they are not losing representation in any legislative body; nor have citizens as a group been discriminatorily gerrymander, ‘packed,’ or ‘cracked’ to divide, concentrate or devalue their votes.”

What makes this bill fascist?

This has been one of those weeks that feel like years. To say the least, immigrants are the primary target of this administration and laws designed to reduce their rights are just one of the many prongs being used to demoralize and terrify them. The courts very clearly state that DC has the right to allow non-citizens to vote. 21 other towns and cities have extended these rights as well. Congress may have the right to repeal DC laws, but if they were to try to do the same thing to Oakland or Montpelier, they would not have the legal standing to do so. It is a clear attack on the rights of DC immigrants & just as clearly fascist.

Which Dems voted for it?

Did it pass?

  • Passed the House on 6/10/25 by a vote of 266-148-1