RNC, Vermont GOP Sue City Of Winooski For Letting Noncitizens Vote On Spending State Funds

The Republican National Committee and Vermont Republican Party announced Thursday that they will sue Winooski, Vermont, for allowing noncitizens vote in school board elections as well as education budget referendums. Two Winooski residents who are concerned about the situation are also part of this. Forensic hearing.

After the Vermont Supreme Court, the lawsuit was filed Prohibited The RNC had previously sued to have judges declare noncitizen voting illegal. The court said that Vermont’s Constitution didn’t prohibit noncitizens from voting in municipal elections. But, it did rule that votes with statewide implications required United States citizenship. A spokeswoman for the RNC told The Federalist.

The RNC’s lawsuit has a narrower scope. It only argues that allowing noncitizens to vote on Winooski’s school board members and education budget is unconstitutional. These elections have a significant impact on the state, as the annual education budget for the town, which is set by the school board is funded through state expenditures. This means that non-citizen Vermont residents could vote on measures directly affecting the Vermont taxpayer. 

“The Vermont Constitution draws a clear line that noncitizens are ineligible to vote in elections with statewide implications, which include questions about state-funded programs like public school education,”Derek Lyons, the CEO and president at Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (an advocacy group for election integrity), supported the lawsuit. “Americans broadly understand that noncitizen voting is a threat to our democracy. This principle is enshrined in Vermont’s constitution, which prohibits noncitizen voting in local elections from imposing burdens on citizens living in the rest of the state.”

In 2020, the town of Winooski voted to allow noncitizen residents to cast ballots in municipal elections — following the example of Montpelier, Vermont, which voted to do so in 2018. In 2021, the Democrat controlled Vermont legislature Approuvé Changes to the charters of both cities to allow noncitizen voter registration, in preference to Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s veto. Although federal law bars noncitizens voting in federal elections in the United States, many jurisdictions allow them to vote in local elections.

This isn’t the first time the RNC has sued noncitizen voters. The RNC won the June 2022 election. won a lawsuit A New York City law which would have allowed 800,000 non-citizens to vote in the city elections was rescinded.

“American elections should only be decided by American citizens in Vermont and nationwide,” Ronna McDaniel was the Chairperson of RNC in a Press Release. “This lawsuit is a continuation of the RNC’s fight to protect the vote and ensure that the franchise is only extended to citizens of this country. We won a lawsuit against New York City on this same issue last year, and we are fighting for another victory on behalf of election integrity and Vermont voters.”

Victoria Marshall is a staff journalist at The Federalist. Her writing has appeared in The Federalist, National Review, Townhall, and the New York Post. Hillsdale College, where she studied journalism and politics, graduated her in May 2021. Follow her Twitter @vemrshll.

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