Heather Curtis
wmal.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL)- College Park may become the ninth city in the state of Maryland to allow people who aren’t citizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in local elections. Aug. 8 the College Park City Council and mayor are scheduled to vote on whether to open up local elections to non-citizens who live within city limits.
People on both sides of the aisle spoke at a city council meeting July 11.
Resident Bill Bukowski said he is opposed to the change because the Constitution specifies that only citizens are allowed to vote.
“This council is stepping way out of bounds on their legal responsibility by making a change in the voting status and giving that voting status to non-citizens,” Bukowski said during a public hearing.
Resident Barbara Pandobanke is in favor of allowing people who aren’t citizens to vote. She said when her parents came to America from Bolivia, they had to become citizens before they could vote, but it’s different now than it was then. She said College Park has a large immigrant population, and they should be able to vote so they are represented on the city council.
“They have some of the same concerns non-immigrant residents have, mainly they want a quiet, safe and pretty community in which to raise their kids, and that’s not so foreign to the most of us, but they don’t’ always feel heard here,” Pandobanke said.
Julio Murillo with CASA said municipal services, including public safety, don’t only affect citizens who live in the city, but everybody. For that reason, he believes everyone, regardless of immigration status, should have a say on fundamental issues that affect their everyday lives.
In a statement on its website Aug. 2, the Group Help save Maryland said it is seriously considering filing a lawsuit against College Park and other Maryland cities that allow people who aren’t citizens to vote.
“The radical nature of this voting scheme reflects the progressive view that borders are merely artificial inconveniences and that citizenship is a leftover concept from slave-holding days that should give way to global consciousness,” the group’s Robert Knight wrote.
Takoma Park, Barnesville, Glen Echo, Garret Park, Martin’s Additions and Somerset already allow non-citizens to vote.
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