Permitting foreign nationals to vote in Burlington School District elections violates the Vermont Constitution, a lawsuit filed Monday claims.
Brought by two Vermonters against the City of Burlington, the lawsuit alleges that a charter amendment adopted by the locality last year allowing noncitizens to vote in Burlington School District elections does not comport with the Green Mountain State’s founding document. The residents are supported by Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), an election integrity legal group.
“The charter change permitting noncitizen voting has changed the qualifications for voters as defined in [the Vermont Constitution] and the individual Plaintiffs are voters ‘within the voter pool for which those qualifications have been changed,’” the lawsuit reads. “Both individual Plaintiffs are registered voters who have voted and intend to continue voting in Burlington elections. Those votes will be diluted by noncitizen votes made possible by Burlington’s charter change.”
The City of Burlington adopted a charter amendment in March 2023 authorizing aliens who have legal status in the United States “to register and vote in all local elections.” In addition to this requirement, foreign nationals seeking to vote under the amendment must be at least 18 years old, have taken the Voter’s Oath, be a Burlington resident as specified by state law, and be “registered to vote with the Board of Registration of Voters not later than the deadline established by Vermont law for that election or meeting.”
The amendment was approved by Vermont’s Democrat-controlled General Assembly in May 2023, but was
