“I am terrified of the unintended consequences of this. Because with the immigration laws the way they are in the United States right now, it’s open season,” — Commissioner Dory Waxman

(From the March 10, 2022 Maine Public article, “Portland Charter Commission endorses local voting rights for noncitizen residents”)

Portland’s Charter Commission Wednesday night advanced a proposal that would allow noncitizen residents to vote in municipal elections. While the group was largely in agreement that immigration status shouldn’t prevent someone from voting, the group’s legal advisor expressed doubts about the city’s ability to extend voting rights in this way.

The Commission voted 10 to 2 in support of the universal resident voting proposal. The measure now heads to the commission’s legal advisors to draft the official language, and will ultimately be put to voters as a ballot question.

Read the entire article here.