Since August, the city of College Park, Maryland has been debating something that only a deep blue state would actually consider: allowing illegal aliens to vote in local elections. Even the notion of allowing illegals to vote should be considered anathema. It dilutes the responsibility and privilege of citizenship and it spits in the fact of the legal residents who are currently in the process, who are waiting in line for their turn to take the oath and vote legally in our elections. All this says is that if you break the law, you’ll get rewarded. On Tuesday, College Park granted the right for illegals to vote in municipal election. Yes, the scope is small, but that’s not the point. It’s the principle. This is a terrible signal to send and be on the lookout for more Democratic-run municipalities that may follow suit on this nonsense (via WaPo):
The city council and mayor of College Park voted narrowly Tuesday night to give noncitizens the right to vote in municipal elections, making the Washington suburb the largest city in Prince George’s County to allow undocumented immigrants, student-visa holders and residents with green cards to cast votes in local elections.
Following a summer of heated debate among residents and council members, the decision came during a tense four-hour meeting in which residents who supported expanding the right to vote said the issue was about civil rights, and those who opposed the expansion said casting a vote was a privilege immigrants should earn by becoming citizens.
The majority of residents who submitted comments supported the amendment to expand voting rights, Mayor Patrick Wojahn said.
Some council members said they thought not enough time had been devoted to discussing the charter amendment to expand voting, which was introduced June 13. The council, which postponed its initial vote Aug. 8, was split on whether to let city residents help make the decision, either through a ballot referendum or a committee of residents that would to discuss the issue.
[…]
On both sides, tension flared, with some the audience at some points booing speakers and the mayor at one point admonishing those gathered that it was not a competition to see who could clap the loudest.
Rick Hudson, who opposed expanding voting rights, said he was called “a Nazi” by someone who supported the amendment.
[…]
About 20 percent of College Park’s 32,275 residents are foreign-born, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The University of Maryland campus, with more than 27,000 undergraduates, has about 3,600 international students.
The council was split three-to-three in the vote, with Mayor Wojahn casting the deciding vote in favor of expanding voting rights to illegals. It goes into effect in 2019.