Burlington, Vermont — A Vermont Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting in local elections within Burlington. Judge Samuel Hoar, Jr. of the Chittenden County Superior Court rendered the decision on February 6, ruling against a case put forth by the nonprofit Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, which represented Burlington residents Karen Rowell and Michele Morin.
In the lawsuit filed on June 18, plaintiffs argued that noncitizen voting in school board and educational budget elections is unconstitutional under the Vermont Constitution’s Section 42. This section traditionally interprets citizenship as a prerequisite for voting on state issues. However, the plaintiffs contended that the section should similarly apply to municipal school district votes.
Judge Hoar’s dismissal followed a prior precedent set by the Vermont Supreme Court concerning a similar challenge in Montpelier. The state’s highest court ruled that the citizenship requirement outlined in the Vermont Constitution applies exclusively to statewide elections, thus municipal elections were exempt from such requirements. The Supreme Court emphasized that municipal votes address strictly local concerns, which do not intersect substantially with state-wide governance systems or their fiscal responsibilities.
Historically, Montpelier was the first city in Vermont to extend voting rights to noncitizens by amending its charter in 2018, followed by Winooski in 2020. However, these changes met resistance, leading to legal challenges in 2021 spearheaded by both national and state branches of the Republican Party, decrying these amendments as detrimental to electoral integrity. All such lawsuits, including a subsequent one in March 2023 against Winooski initiated by the state Republican Party, were dismissed.
Representing the Republican Party in these lawsuits, Brady Toensing, a former vice chair of the Vermont GOP and an official in the Department of Justice during Donald Trump’s first term, announced intentions to appeal the recent decision. Toensing in previous arguments highlighted that issues like school budgets have state implications, and therefore should not be decided by noncitizens.
The decision has substantial implications for non-U.S. citizens who are permanent residents, hold eligible work visas, or are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, affording them the right to vote in local government and educational board elections. The legal clearance aligns with Burlington’s charter amendment, approved by local voters in 2023, and solidified by the Vermont Legislature which later overrode a veto by Republican Governor Phil Scott, who favored a state-wide policy on this matter.
This municipal voting right for noncitizens aligns Burlington with several jurisdictions across the United States, including some in California and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia, which permit noncitizen voting in local elections. Conversely, eight states have passed ballot measures as of 2024 to explicitly prohibit noncitizen voting in any election.
The ongoing debate and legal navigations around noncitizen voting illuminate the broader national discourse on the rights of noncitizens within local governance frameworks, stirring discussions on civic engagement and the boundaries of electoral privileges.
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