- Congress has allowed Washington, D.C., to let non-citizens vote in local elections, after having blocked the capital city’s revision of its criminal code that Democrats and Republicans alike considered too soft on crime.
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The Republican-led House, then the Democrat-controlled Senate blocked the crime bill earlier this month with widespread bipartisan support.
- A month earlier, the House passed a measure to block D.C.’s expanded voting law.
- “The law makes no exception for foreign diplomats or agents who have interests that are the opposite of ours,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said at the time. “Under this bill, Russian diplomats would get a vote.”
- However, the Senate didn’t vote on the matter before the 30-review period expired late last week.
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The District is allowed to make its own laws, but Congress has oversight authority that include control of the city budget.
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D.C. Can Extend Voting Rights To Non-Citizens, After Senate Misses Vote Deadline
TOPSHOT - Voters cast their ballots for Early Voting at the Los Angeles County Registrar's Office in Norwalk, California on November 5, 2018, a day ahead the November 6 midterm elections in the United States. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
