House kills non-citizen voting act

By Bennett Gavrish

Lines of voters extended around the perimeter of Newton North High School on Election Day, but one group of locals was absent from the crowd.

Non-citizen immigrants in Newton, who were on the verge of gaining a vote in community affairs, were silenced again.

“This is taxation without representation,” said Ted Hess-Mahan, the Ward 3 alderman who first proposed giving voting rights to non-citizens. “We fought a war over that one time in this country.”

Over the past two years, three cities in Massachusetts have proposed non-citizen voting initiatives, but the state legislature has repeatedly rejected the plans and forbidden immigrants in areas such as Newton from filling out a ballot.

Twenty percent of Newton residents were born in another country and 8 percent are not citizens, according to a 2004 survey by the US Census Bureau.

“That means most non-citizens in Newton eventually do become citizens,” Hess-Mahan said. “But it also means that while they are becoming eligible to apply, they live here but have no voice in who will represent them in City Hall or on the School Committee.”

Last year, the Board of Aldermen voted 20-4 in favor of Hess-Mahan’s proposal. The proposal would have given Newton immigrants the right to vote in local elections, as long as they signed a declaration saying they intended to complete the citizenship process.

Over the past few months, the House has turned down the city’s plan and similar proposals in Amherst and Cambridge. All three cities filed home-rule petitions, which would have allowed the initiatives to go into effect in only those areas.

Anping Shen, a Chinese immigrant who moved to Newton in the 1980s, said the proposed legislation would benefit the culture of the neighborhood.

“The voice of immigrants is both meaningful and important to community matters,” he said. “Plus it would be a mutual educational experience for these non-citizens to actively engage in community issues with citizens.”

Advocates said non-citizens in Newton could sway elections.

“A fair proportion would vote, probably somewhere close to the percentage of Americans who currently vote,” said Jason Levy, a local immigration lawyer. “I think you would see a somewhat different demographic of representation in the state House and Senate.”

Opponents argue the proposal would add unnecessary complications to the state’s election laws.

“Allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections could lead to problems,” said Joshua Goldstein, a Newton attorney who specializes in immigration law. “Voters could be confused as to which elections permit non-citizens to vote and which do not.”

State lawmakers did not vote against the city’s plan; they sent the bill to study after a public hearing, effectively killing it.

“This means that most likely the bill will need to be refiled during next year’s session and go through the entire process again,” said Sarah Blodgett, the chief of staff for Senator Karen Spilka, the vice-chair of the Election Laws Committee.

Hess-Mahan is optimistic lawmakers will change their minds.

“It took African-Americans almost 80 years and women almost 120 years after the Constitution was ratified to get an amendment guaranteeing them the right to vote,” he said. “These things take time.”