Democracy for all: restoring immigrant voting rights in the US*

Abstract

This paper examines the politics of noncitizen voting in the United States. It is not widely known that noncitizens currently vote in local elections in Maryland and in Chicago; nor that over the past decade campaigns to expand the franchise to noncitizens have been launched in at least a dozen other jurisdictions from coast to coast. These practices have their roots in another little known fact: for most of the country's history—from the founding until the 1920s—noncitizens voted in 22 states and federal territories in local, state and even federal elections, and also held public office such as alderman, coroner, and school board member. This paper presents arguments for (and against) noncitizen voting rights, and examines contemporary political organizations and actors who fought for and won (or lost) campaigns to reinstate noncitizen voting. The paper explores the politics of recent campaigns that successfully reestablished noncitizen voting, that are currently underway, and other campaigns that failed. The paper argues that an expansion of immigrant voting rights could boost possibilities for working‐class electoral coalitions and progressive politics.