The Los Angeles City Council has abruptly suspended plans to put a proposal to grant local election voting rights to non-citizens to a referendum this coming November.
On the 30th, the City Council unanimously removed the proposal from the vote and referred it to a committee for further review. This decision followed criticism from some council members that “sufficient review and public discussion had not taken place.”
Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who has been pushing the bill, acknowledged that there was “insufficient communication with the community” and that concerns had been raised, particularly within the Black community. He stated, “Black and Latino solidarity is very important,” adding, “I do not want to proceed in a way that could be viewed negatively by the city.” However, he made it clear that he intends to pursue the matter again in future elections.
The proposal that was put on hold this time contained provisions allowing the Los Angeles City Council to grant voting rights to non-citizens in city and school board elections through an ordinance. However, key issues, such as specifically who would be granted voting rights and whether the LA County election system could handle it, remained unresolved.
Councilmember Tracy Park pointed out the lack of administrative preparation, stating, “It is a situation where even voters do not know what they are voting for,” while Councilmember John Lee cited the San Francisco case and expressed concern over the “potential exposure of non-citizen information to ICE.” In this regard, San Francisco already allows non-citizen voting in school board elections, but it includes a warning on its election website stating that personal information could be shared with federal agencies.
Meanwhile, the City Council also withdrew another referendum proposal at the last minute on the same day, which would have partially transferred Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) policy authority from the Police Commission to the City Council. It is believed that the decision was influenced by the police union’s threat to sue, claiming the move was pushed through without prior consultation.
While this ruling puts discussions on expanding immigrant rights in LA on hold for the time being, it is highly likely to re-emerge as a key political issue ahead of upcoming elections.