(From the February 17, 2025 VTDigger article “Judge rejects effort to block noncitizen voting in Burlington”)

Chittenden County Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar, Jr.  dismissed the case Feb. 6 with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs will not be able to refile the case there.

Filed by the nonprofit Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections on behalf of Burlington residents Karen Rowell and Michele Morin, the lawsuit claims that allowing noncitizen voting “on matters involving the City of Burlington’s school board and education budget is unconstitutional and void,” according to the complaint filed in the civil division on June 18, 2024.

Plaintiffs in the case argued the charter amendment violates Section 42 of the Vermont Constitution, which “establishes United States citizenship as a requirement for voting on ‘freemen’ issues, which include ‘any matter that concerns the State of Vermont.’” Plaintiffs further stated that while Section 42 “may generally tolerate noncitizen voting in municipal elections, school district elections are different.”

The city filed a motion to dismiss and in a 7-page decision this month, Judge Hoar agreed to do so, pointing to a similar challenge in Montpelier in which the Vermont Supreme Court ruled the citizenship requirement applies only to statewide elections and not municipal ones.

Read the entire article here.