Democrats and the D.C. Board of Elections want to allow noncitizens, including possible foreign spies, to vote in local election.

The D.C. Board of Elections is headed to the D.C. The D.C. Board of Elections will head to the D.C. The lawsuit revolves around the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2020, which allows noncitizens 18 or older who lived in D.C. at least 30 day prior to an elections to vote for local representatives and ballot initiatives.

The security risks are evident when you consider that there are an estimated 10, 000 foreign spies in Washington D.C., and that the U.S. capitol also hosts diplomats from hostile foreign governments such as China. FBI counterintelligence expert Brian Dugan warned in the past that foreign adversaries posed an “unprecedented threat” and that spies blend into daily life by posing students, professors, or even neighbors.

Democrats want to extend voting to non-citizens living in Washington, D.C. and possibly to agents working for foreign governments.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform , on behalf of several D.C. residents, filed a lawsuit in 2023 against the D.C. Board of Elections. The complaint contested the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, arguing that it was unconstitutional. It also argued that the law diluted the votes of U.S. Citizens.

“Noncitizens” do not have the right to vote. The lawsuit also states that noncitizens do not have a fundamental right to vote. The D.C. Noncitizen Voting Act, by its necessary operation dilutes every U.S. Citizen voter in the District. The D.C. Noncitizen voting Act, as a result of this, is subject to review both under the Equal Protection and substantive due process clauses of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit further alleges that the law violates “the constitutional right of citizens to be governed and to govern themselves” and “should be struck down based on this basis,” by allowing “noncitizens to hold public office in D.C.”

The D.C. Board of Elections, in turn, defended the law. argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs did not have standing to contest the allowing of foreigners to participate in U.S. election.

Amy Berman Jackson dismissed the lawsuit in 2013, arguing that plaintiffs had failed to prove their votes were “disadvantaged” individually or “treated differently from non-citizens votes.”

Berman’s opinion stated that “[Plaintiffs] can object on a policy basis to the fact immigrants are allowed to vote, but their votes won’t be given less weight or treated differently from noncitizens votes.” “At the end of the day, they’re simply raising an unspecific grievance that is not sufficient to confer standing.”

According to Democracy Docket, “plaintiffs requested that the D.C. According to Democracy Docket, the Circuit Court will rule on standing and constitutionality of the law.

The Washington Post previously stated that the law would allow an estimated 50,000 citizens to vote.

In 2023, House Republicans along with 42 Democrats attempted to stop legislation. The bill was passed after the Senate committee’s resolution expired. House Republicans attempted again last year to prevent noncitizens voting in local D.C. election. As my colleague M.D. Kittle reported that most House Democrats voted in opposition to the bill and it died in the Senate.