BOE Requests More Time to Respond to NYC Republicans’ Lawsuit Challenging Non-Citizens' Vote

By Yehudit Garmaise

After Staten Island Republicans filed a lawsuit to challenge the City Council’s new law that grants, for city elections, voting rights to 800,000 residents of NYC who are not U.S. citizens, the Board of Elections (BOE) has asked for more time to respond.

The BOE, which is usually represented by the city’s corporation counsel, has requested its own lawyer and has cited its limited meeting schedule and the ongoing redistricting process as reasons that the agency needs until March 28th to respond to the plaintiffs’ objections to the new law.

“Anyone reading New York state election law in plain English can see that it prohibits foreign citizen voting,” Staten Island Borough President Vito Borelli said. “The public should look for themselves at section 5-102 to fully grasp how their city government willfully violates the law without regard.”

“(No) person shall be qualified to register for and vote at any election unless he is a citizen of the United States,” the election law reads.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, state Sen. Andrew Lanza, Assemblyman Mike Reilly, Assemblyman Mike Tannousis, City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, and City Councilman David Carr, are also listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit’s defendants, which include Mayor Eric Adams, the City Council, and the city BOE, claim Fossella’s lawsuit is without merit.

Although Mayor Eric Adams initially hesitated to support the NYC City Council’s bill to grant municipal voting rights to non-citizens, the newly-elected mayor had a change of heart.

“I believe that New Yorkers should have a say in their government, which is why I have and will continue to support this important legislation,” Mayor Adams said last month. “I look forward to bringing millions more into the democratic process.” 

The next day, however, the Republican National Committee (RNC) challenged the new law as unconstitutional and filed a lawsuit that NYC Republicans soon joined.

“American elections should be decided by American citizens,” said Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the RNC, who also accused Democrats of attempting to unfairly manipulate election results by allowing noncitizens to vote.