Los Angeles moves to let noncitizens vote in local elections, Republicans raise alarm

The Los Angeles City Council is facing criticism from a Republican Party leader after deciding to move forward with a Nov. 3 ballot initiative to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.

The council voted Thursday to put the measure on the general election ballot.

“Yesterday's vote by the LA City Council, a body that cannot keep its streets clean of filth, save the lives of broken drug-addicted souls in encampments, fight fires or stop crime, is an affront to all Americans,” Roxanne Hoge, Los Angeles County Republican Party chair, told The Center Square, answering questions by email.

Hoge, who's from Jamaica, said she believes the right to vote is a privilege reserved for American citizens.

“As a naturalized American citizen, the right to vote in this country's elections is incredibly important to me,” Hoge said Friday. “It is a privilege that is properly reserved for people who are either born here or love the U.S.A. enough to make a commitment to follow its laws and swear an oath to protect and defend and follow our constitution — and who then choose to register to vote.”

“Giving noncitizens the ability to vote in our elections is a logistical nightmare that would erode trust in our already-tainted system in California and is wrong,” Hoge added.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez of District 13 proposed the initiative, as previously reported by The Center Square.

Soto-Martinez cited other cities such as San Francisco, which allow noncitizen voting in local elections, as grounds for new voting laws in Los Angeles.

Soto-Martinez previously said at a Rules Committee meeting, that if his plan was passed by the council and later approved by voters, nothing would take effect until a future ordinance was adopted by the council and signed by the mayor.

“This gives us the time and flexibility to get it right, to build in safeguards, to protect people's security and to ensure any policy can withstand legal challenges,” Soto-Martinez said.

The Center Square reached out to the office of Soto-Martinez and the White House Press Office for comment on Thursday’s City Council meeting, but did not hear back by the time of publication.