I certainly don't want to be the apologist for the statutory ban on
non-citizen voting. I imagine, though, that Congress used what it
considers its plenary power under Article I Section 4 to regiulate
federal elections. (As I recall, the Court in Burroughs v US decided,
more or less, that the emanations and penumbrae from Art I sec 4
covered presidential elections -- but I defer to others who actually
have studied the issue)
States allowed non-citizens to vote in part in an attempt to attract
immigrants to increase their population and prosperity. It would be
worth a try for many areas of the US
On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 12:51 PM, Scarberry, Mark
<Mark.Scarberry@pepperdine.edu> wrote:
This may be too simple a question to ask, but how is such a federal law consistent with Article I, section 2, clause 1, and Article II, section 1, clause 2 of the Constitution? The first provides that the electors for the House are the same as those who are entitled to vote for the "most numerous Branch of the State Legislature" (with the 17th Am. following suit for Senate elections). The second gives to the state legislatures the power (plenary power, I would argue) to determine the manner of appointing presidential electors (including, subject to later amendments such as the 15th, the power to determine who can vote in any presidential election that the state legislature might choose to have for selection of presidential electors). The power of states to decide whether noncitizen immigrants could vote in federal elections was one reason why section 2 of the 14th Amendment was drafted to base representation on population rather than on qualified voters. The power of Congress under Article I, section 4, clause 1 to "make or alter ... Regulations" for congressional elections was not understood originally or at the time of the adoption of the post-Civil War Amendments to include the power to determine who was qualified to vote in congressional elections.
Mark Scarberry
Pepperdine
-----Original Message-----
From: John Tanner [mailto:john.k.tanner@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 9:35 AM
To: Scarberry, Mark; election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu; Election Law
Subject: Re: [EL] Electionlawblog news and commentary 10/25/10 -- StatesWeigh Letting Noncitizens Vote
Oops
Federal law prohibits non-ctizens from voting in FEDERAL elections.
Some local governments can and do allow non-ctizens to vote
On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 12:23 PM, <john.k.tanner@gmail.com> wrote:
Federal law prohibits voting by non-citizens
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: "Scarberry, Mark" <Mark.Scarberry@pepperdine.edu>
Sender: election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:02:24
To: Election Law<election-law@mailman.lls.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] Electionlawblog news and commentary 10/25/10 -- States
Weigh Letting Noncitizens Vote
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