Who Else Should Vote in Local Decision-Making? Enfranchising Part Time Residents and Non-citizens

Abstract

This paper argues for an expansion of the suffrage in American local governmental elections significantly beyond what is currently permitted in most local elections in the United States. Two recommendations are proposed: (1) Allowing non-citizen residents to vote in local governmental jurisdictions. (2) Allowing individuals who demonstrably live in two local areal jurisdictions to claim dual residency with local voting rights in both districts. The paper defends these two recommendations by calling attention to the global change in our understanding of citizenship and residency and the implications of these changes to the exercise of the franchise. These changes include the rise of dual citizenship. Citizenship in one state is no longer preclusive of citizenship in another state. A second change is the importance assigned to a single declared and recognized residency within many countries including the United States. A third change is the shifting understanding of the relationship between citizenship and residency and the implications for how we should think about voting rights at home and abroad.