Page 19 - IAV Digital Magazine #434

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Maryland City Approves Letting Non-citizens
Vote in Local Elections
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Maryland city of College Park will allow non-citizens to take part in local elections, ending months of controversy amid a roiling national debate over immigrants and their status in the United States. Council members in the Washington suburb, home to the University of Maryland’s flagship campus, voted 4-3 late on Tuesday to approve the measure, city clerk Janeen Miller said by tele- phone on Wednesday. One member abstained.
The resolution was approved after hours of debate and the failure of two counterpropos- als, with dozens of residents speaking for and against the measure.
“It’s really difficult when a divisive issue like this comes up in our community. I hope we can move beyond it and continue to work together for a stronger College Park,” Mayor Patrick Wojahn, who signed the measure, said by phone.
Under the new policy, the city clerk must maintain a sepa- rate list of foreigners who are eligible to vote. The measure will be in effect for 2019 city
elections.
At least 10 other towns in Maryland, a heavily Democratic state, have similar meas- ures letting non-citizens vote. Chicago also allows non-citizens to
vote in local school council elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
About one-fifth of College Park’s 32,000 residents are foreign born, according to the Census Bureau. City officials said they did not know how many residents were not citi- zens.
The city’s measure was first introduced in June, triggering a heated debate and national attention. Council members received threatening mes- sages, and a planned August vote was put off after a con- tentious public hearing.
Republican President Donald Trump has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall along the Mexican border.
Trump said last week he was ending a program set up under Democratic President Barack Obama that protects from deportation immigrants brought into the United States illegally as children.
Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Frances Kerry
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