At tonight’s meeting, the City Council may consider a resolution allowing City’s Green Card holders to vote at City elections.
Council members are expected to bring two other amendment resolutions. They include: (1) The placement of questions relating to non-U.S. Citizen voting as an advisory referendum on the November 7 ballot, with the exact language to be approved in a Special Session on September 19th. and (2) The establishment of a Voting Rights Commission, with resident representatives from each Council district, to review issues of voting rights for residents of the City of College Park.
The current resolution (17-CR-02) asks to amend City Charter allowing everyone to vote at the City elections, irrespective of their immigration status. This green card resolution will make a compromise between the proposed 17-CR-02 resolution and who can vote currently at the City elections (only U.S. citizens).
For any concerns regarding immigration law, you may reach out to The Echavarria Law Firm – San Antonio.
The motion will read the following.
I move to amend §C4-1(a) in 17-CR-02 to read as follows:
A. EVERY PERSON WHO IS CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, OR IS A NON-CITIZEN WHO IS LAWFULLY AUTHORIZED TO LIVE PERMANENTLY WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, AS EVIDENCED BY A UNITED STATES PERMANENT RESIDENT CARD (USCIS FORM I-551) OR OTHER DOCUMENT ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT; A RESIDENT OF THE CITY OF COLLEGE PARK; WILL BE EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OF AGE ON OR BEFORE THE DATE OF THE NEXT CITY ELECTION; AND DOES NOT CLAIM VOTING RESIDENCE OR THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN ANOTHER JURISDICTION, IS ELIGIBLE TO BE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CHARTER AS A QUALIFIED VOTER OF THE CITY EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SUBSECTION (B) OF THIS SECTION.
The remainder of 17-CR-02 would be unchanged.
Please see the related Charter resolution CHARTER RESOLUTION to allow permanent residents to vote.