Bid to put noncitizen voting on LAs November ballot killed after major pushback

Los Angeles’ controversial push to let non-U.S.citizens vote in city elections will not appear on ballots in November after the City Council unanimously concluded the proposal wasn’t ready to be actioned.The City Council unanimously slammed the brakes Tuesday, voting 14-0 to yank two charter amendments back to committee just 13 days after advancing them.

Mounting legal, privacy and election administration concerns ultimately doomed any chance of the measures making the Nov.3 ballot.The proposals would have changed the Los Angeles City Charter, the city’s governing rulebook, to give future City Councils the power to expand voting eligibility in city and Los Angeles Unified School District elections.A new report from the City Attorney’s Office raised fresh concerns by noting the charter amendments would leave many of the biggest decisions to future City Councils.The report also questioned whether one provision limiting when future councils could amend those ordinances could even be legally enforced, raising the prospect that future politicians could rewrite major election rules by ordinance rather than through another vote of the people.Councilman John Lee, the only Independent on council, urged colleagues to pull the measure saying not enough homework had been done.“We have not meaningfully examined the legal, fiscal, administrative, or privacy implications of this proposal,” Lee said.Lee pointed to San Francisco, the lone California city that currently allows limited noncitizen voting, noting the city’s own voter registration materials warn applicants that personal information may be obtained by federal immigration authorities and advise prospective voters to consult an immigration attorney before registering.He also argued that leaving major election rules, including voter eligibility, separate ballots and vote-counting procedures, for future councils to decide would erode public trust.

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