Nearly 150 Democrats Oppose Bill Banning Noncitizens From Voting In Nation’s Capital

The GOP-led House passed on Tuesday a bill to prohibit noncitizens from voting in local Washington, D.C., elections, overcoming the majority of Democrats who voted against the measure.

A total of 210 Republicans and 56 Democrats supported the legislation, which bars foreign nationals from voting in local contests in the nation’s capital and repeals a measure passed by the D.C. Council in 2022 that allowed it in the first place. Another 148 Democrats voted against it.

“Free and fair elections are a prerequisite for a healthy republic. The radical DC Council’s decision to allow noncitizens — including illegal aliens and foreign agents — to vote in local elections dilutes the voting power of the citizen voter,” said Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), who introduced the House bill.

“That power must be defended, and I am thrilled House Republicans took action today to do so,” Pfluger added. “Anyone who voted against this legislation, voted for the transfer of political power away from legal voters. With the House passage of my legislation, we are one step closer to restoring the sanctity of the voting process to ensure that only American citizens are voting in our nation’s capital.”

In 2023, the House passed a resolution from Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to block the enactment of the D.C. measure via the Home Rule Act. However, the Democrats who controlled the Senate at the time did not take up the resolution and the bill went into effect. Last year, the House passed a similar bill from Pfluger, but it met a similar fate.

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Now that Republicans control both chambers of Congress, Democrats have been relegated to voting in the minority on party-line issues and otherwise can voice their dismay when they do not get their way — as did Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s non-voting delegate in the House.

“Republicans refuse to make the only election law change D.C. has requested: making D.C. a state so that it can hold elections for voting members of the House and Senate,” Norton said in a statement.

Noncitizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections, but they are allowed to for certain local contests in some municipalities in states like California, Maryland, and Vermont, along with D.C. Republicans in Congress have pushed for legislation requiring individuals to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in elections for federal office.

The House also passed on Tuesday a bill from Rep. Andrew Garbino (R-NY) to restore collective bargaining rights for D.C. police officers and reinstate the statute of limitations for disciplinary cases against members or civilian employees of the Metropolitan Police Department.