On Thursday, the Republican National Committee and the Vermont Republican Party announced they are suing the city of Winooski, Vermont for allowing noncitizens to vote in school board elections and on education budget referendums. Two concerned Winooski residents are also a part of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled against the RNC’s previous lawsuit asking judges to find noncitizen voting unconstitutional. While the court argued the Vermont Constitution did not categorically bar noncitizen residents from voting in municipal elections, it did find that votes with statewide implications would require United States citizenship, an RNC spokeswoman told The Federalist.
That is why the RNC’s lawsuit is narrower in scope this time. It only argues that allowing noncitizens to vote on Winooski’s school board members and education budget is unconstitutional. Such elections have a statewide impact as the town’s annual education budget, which is created by the school board, is funded via state expenditures. In other words, noncitizen residents would be voting on measures that directly affect the Vermont taxpayer.
“The Vermont Constitution draws a clear line that noncitizens are ineligible to vote in elections with statewide implications, which include questions about state-funded programs like public school education,”said Derek Lyons, CEO and president of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, an election integrity advocacy group supporting the lawsuit. “Americans broadly understand that noncitizen voting is a threat to our democracy. This principle is enshrined in Vermont’s constitution, which prohibits noncitizen voting in local elections from imposing
