‘Voting is a RIGHT of citizenship’: House Republicans target D.C. noncitizen voting while ignoring statehood demands

House Republicans have advanced legislation aimed at overturning Washington, D.C.’s law that permits noncitizens to vote in local elections. The House Resolution 884, which moved forward through the House Oversight Committee last week, represents another step in the ongoing debate over voting rights in the nation’s capital.

The move comes as part of a broader Republican initiative that has previously introduced multiple bills and amendments targeting noncitizen voting in D.C. While federal law prohibits noncitizens from participating in federal elections, several cities across the United States currently allow noncitizen residents to vote in specific local elections.

According to MSNBC, in announcing the bill’s advancement to the House floor, the Oversight Committee declared on social media that “Voting is a RIGHT of citizenship.” This latest legislative action aligns with former President Donald Trump’s previous calls for federal control over the capital city.

Republicans face criticism over selective approach to D.C. voting rights

House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents Washington, D.C., has highlighted what she sees as inconsistency in the Republican approach to voting rights. Norton pointed out that while Republicans have introduced 14 bills or amendments to restrict noncitizen voting in D.C., they have consistently avoided addressing the district’s requests for full congressional representation.

The delegate emphasized that despite numerous legislative attempts to limit voting rights, Republicans have shown reluctance to support the one electoral change D.C. residents have actively sought: the right to elect voting members to both the House and Senate through D.C. statehood.

Critics of the Republican-led initiative suggest that if voting rights in Washington were truly the primary concern, efforts would be directed toward expanding representation through statehood rather than restricting local voting access. The current focus on preventing noncitizen participation in local elections appears to sidestep the broader issue of limited congressional representation for D.C. residents.

The legislation’s advancement through the House Oversight Committee represents Congress’s unique authority over Washington D.C.’s laws, allowing federal legislators to intervene in local governance matters. This authority has raised concerns about the district’s autonomy in determining its own electoral processes, particularly as it relates to local elections where some communities have chosen to extend voting rights to noncitizen residents.