WASHINGTON — The Republican Chairman of the newly renamed House Oversight and Accountability Committee has introduced a joint resolution to stop a new D.C. law from going into effect.
The Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act passed the D.C. Council in October and was enacted in November without Mayor Bowser's signature.
All D.C. legislation goes through congressional review and the law is tentatively scheduled to go into effect in March of this year.
“The D.C. Council’s reckless decision to allow non-U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants the right to vote in local elections is an attack on the foundation of this republic," said Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a statement. "This move by the Council is irresponsible and will only exacerbate the ongoing border crisis, subvert the voices of American citizens, and open the door for foreign adversaries to peddle influence in our nation’s capital."
D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau is one of the members who introduced the bill.
"I fully expect that Republicans in this Congress are going to be hostile towards the District of Columbia. We've seen this before," said Nadeau. "When we're talking about Republican leadership that took days and days to elect their Speaker, it seems like maybe they should be focusing on their own business."
In October, the D.C. Council passed the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, according to a tweet from Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who is the bill's lead sponsor. This bill will allow non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants to vote in local elections in D.C.
This includes races for D.C. Mayor, chairman or member of the council, attorney general, board of education, ANC, and any initiative, referendum recall or charter referendum.
Although this bill would allow non-citizens to vote in local D.C. elections, it will not give them access to voting in federal elections.
Some voting requirements will be the same for citizens and non-citizens, however. Those voting will still have to be 18 years old by the time of the general election, must live in D.C. for at least 30 days before the election and not claim voting residence in any U.S. state or U.S. territory.
Nadeau expressed her excitement on Twitter for the bill's passage. Councilmembers Lewis George, Silverman, Henderson, Pino, R. White and Allen co-sponsoring.
According to the city council, the bill's passage would mean D.C. would join the ranks of 11 Maryland municipalities that also let non-citizens vote. That list includes Barnesville, Cheverly, Chevy Chase Section 3, Garrett Park, Glen Echo, Hyattsville, Martin’s Additions, Mount Rainier, Riverdale Park, Somerset, and Takoma Park.