Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
COLLEGE PARK, MD (WMAL) — A controversial vote scheduled for Tuesday night that would allow non-citizens to vote in local elections may be delayed according to Christine Nagle, the College Park Councilmember who is co-sponsoring the bill.
Speaking on WMAL’s “Morning’s on The Mall,” Nagle revealed that “[The Council] might actually delay the vote and have a work-session on what wording would look like for a referendum.”
If the vote is delayed, it would push back the vote on the measure to at least September, when the council meets next.
Nagle left open the possibility for a vote tonight, however, saying that if the bill went forward as initially planned, a decision would be made around 8:15 – 8:30 tonight.
The bill, which would make College Park the latest Maryland municipality to allow non-citizens to vote at the local level, had drawn fire from several groups opposing the measure – though Nagle dismissed their objections:
“I’m getting calls and emails from people who have seen this on the news…and they’re extremely upset about it, but they’re not part of our community.”
She went on to say that while the measure had about “50-50” support, most of those opposed wanted to see voting limited to green card holders rather than snubbing the idea outright.
However, all of the drama surrounding the vote may be pointless – even if the fate of the bill is decided tonight.
A group called “Help Save Maryland” told WMAL that they would be searching for a group to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the measure if it is passed – a step which has not happened in the other jurisdictions where similar laws have been enacted.
Spokesman Jeffrey Werner explains, “In the other municipalities…no one has come forward to challenge this. Let’s find out the constitutionality of it – let’s settle it in the court.”
That legal case, however, is far from clear-cut as the Constitution only sets out provisions for various Federal elections.
State and local elections are generally viewed as being under the purview of the 10th Amendment, which reserves unenumerated rights to the States.
And with the main campus of the University of Maryland within city limits, it may just be possible that there would be enough people with enough money to move a case like this all the way up to Federal courts.
Whether a true referendum would mitigate this seemingly likely outcome is unclear, but councilmember Nagle urged that it is not the clear-cut solution that many view it to be:
“There’s some who feel that its not fair to [have a referendum] as the individuals who would be impacted wouldn’t have a say in it.”
The vote is still scheduled for around 8:30 PM tonight.
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