
(Daily360.com) A lawsuit has been filed against the city of Burlington, Vermont for allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections.
The suit was filed by a group named Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), which has former U.S. Attorney General William Barr as a board member. The lawsuit alleges that Burlington has violated the constitution of Vermont, specifically the “voter’s qualification” section.
RITE President Derek Lyons issued a statement calling the actions of the Burlington government “anti-democratic” and said activists are pushing this agenda. RITE is arguing that non-citizens that have the ability to vote in school board elections are partaking in decisions that impact the funds of all Vermont taxpayers. This is because the school commissioners create the State Education Fund which receives its funding from Vermont taxpayers.
Two Burlington voters are listed as the plaintiffs in this case. They argue that the value of their votes will be diminished by the addition of non-citizen votes in local Burlington elections. In June of 2023, the city made changes to the city charter that allowed non-citizens to vote. RITE and the Burlington citizen plaintiffs submitted their lawsuit on June 18, 2024. The city of Burlington has yet to file a response.
A report found that 49 states are providing voter registration forms to individuals without asking for proof of citizenship. Welfare recipients that go into the office to file their paperwork are being given election registration applications, and many of them are not citizens of the United States. There is no law requiring that proof of citizenship is provided to obtain an application to vote, but it is illegal to falsely claim citizenship or to cast a ballot as a non-citizen.
A new bill being presented in the House of Representatives would require new voter registrations to prove their citizenship whether the application is by mail or at the DMV. The Campaign Legal Center denounced the bill and said there has not been any “meaningful level” of non-citizens illegally voting in elections.
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