Yellowhammer Times

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill writes in an opinion piece for the Alabama Political Reporter that noncitizens should not have any voting rights, even in local municipalities that have attempted to grant them these rights. 

In the August commentary, he said that noncitizen voting would substantially impede the citizen naturalization process as it is a major incentive to become a U.S. citizen.

“The naturalization process serves as an essential, shared experience for millions of past and present immigrants to the U.S.,” he writes.

Merrill said that voter confidence, not noncitizen voting, will increase voter turnout across the United States. Since Merrill took office, the number of Alabama registered voters nearly doubled. Merrill said that in Alabama, "96% of eligible African-American residents are registered, 91% of eligible white residents are registered, and 94% of all eligible residents in this state are registered to vote.”

In contrast, Illinois state Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) introduced legislation this year that would allow noncitizens to vote in local school board elections in that state. 

“We’re essentially doing taxation without representation,” she said. “We have a large population of noncitizens in this state and throughout this country and they should have their voices heard, especially when it comes to the education of their children."

According to Ballotpedia, a number of municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont allow noncitizens to vote.

Merrill holds the opposite opinion, having said in the past, noting, “Expanding the electorate to include non-citizens would weaken the public’s faith in both election security and integrity at a time when we need to reassure Americans that our elections are both safe and secure.”

It isn’t just Merrill that believes noncitizens should be barred from voting in U.S. elections. On Aug. 11, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for the Georgia General Assembly to amend the state Constitution to mandate that only citizens of the United States can vote in elections.

"Hostility toward foreigners increased during and after the War of 1812, when some states began to restrict noncitizen voting," reports The Intercept. Even more states eliminated the practice during a wave of nativist sentiment before World War I. Noncitizens weren’t officially banned from voting in federal elections until 1996 with the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.