Editorial: LA City Council rightly pulls back noncitizen voting proposal
The Los Angeles City Council has walked back a proposed November ballot measure which would clear the way for noncitizen voting in city and school district elections.
Two weeks ago, the council advanced the pitch by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez to draft a measure that would authorize the council to implement an ordinance allowing noncitizens to vote.
According to Politico, however, the plan has been punted with the lead proponent arguing he needed to do more outreach to the city's Black residents.
"The Black and brown solidarity is deep to me," Soto-Martínez said. "It means something to me, and I don't want this to be something that gets pushed through that is seen as something negative for the city of Los Angeles. I want this to pass."
Whatever his reasoning, it's a welcome reprieve for a city with more than enough problems on hand.
While one can squint and maybe appreciate the argument that since noncitizens pay taxes, perhaps they should have a vote on their local government representatives, such arguments wrongly diminish the value of citizenship and ignore the fact that noncitizens are perfectly free to engage in the political process. They can reach out to local representatives, participate in local campaigns, attend and speak at council and school board meetings.
No one's rights are being infringed upon by maintaining the simple standard that the right to vote is reserved for citizens. What would happen if noncitizens were permitted to vote is that the electoral power of citizens would diminish. Does anyone really want to open that political powder keg? Or think that would be a great idea?
Practically, there's also the reality that voters have more than enough on their plates.
The ballot will be cluttered with many things to consider from the local level, the state level and the federal level.
Finally, the other practical fact is that the city of Los Angeles is a bit of a mess right now. Infrastructure issues, the homeless crisis, budget woes, eternal quality of life concerns - perhaps the city council can focus on those basics first before ever discussing this item again.
Just a thought.
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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 1:03 PM.