3rd Vermont city allows noncitizen voting in local elections after Legislature overrides veto

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A third Vermont city will now allow noncitizens who are legal residents to vote in local elections after the Democrat-controlled Legislature on Tuesday overrode the Republican governor’s veto of the Burlington charter change bill.

Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, now joins Montpelier and Winooski, which already permit such voting. City residents voted in favor of the charter change in March. The three Vermont cities are among more than a dozen communities in a handful of states — including New York City, and a number of towns in Maryland — that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. Eight states have laws that only allow U.S. citizens to vote in elections, according to the group Americans for Citizen Voting.

The Republican National Committee filed lawsuits against Montpelier and Winooski asking judges to declare noncitizen voting unconstitutional and lost those challenges. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, including races for president, vice president, Senate or House of Representatives.

In January, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that such voting in local elections in Montpelier doesn’t violate the state constitution.