The American Daily

May 24, 2004

In Chicago, Non-Citizens Vote, Too
by Robert Klein Engler

Chicago, the city infamous for it's Democratic poll watchers who claim, ''I see dead people,'' now has another distinction. In this city not only is it rumored that the dead vote, but in fact now non-citizens can vote. According to a Chicago Board of Education spokesperson, the school code, approved by the state legislature of Illinois allows non-citizens to vote in school council elections. A person must be 18 years of age, but no citizenship requirements apply in these elections.

The Illinois school code reads as follows: (d)...(i) The elected members of each local school council shall consist of the 6 parent members and the 2 community resident members. (ii) Each elected member shall be elected by the eligible voters of that attendance center to serve for a two-year term commencing on July 1 immediately following the election described in subsection (c). Eligible voters for each attendance center shall consist of the parents and community residents for that attendance center.

Because the code makes no mention of a citizenship requirement, in an April 2004 election for public school councils in Chicago, non-citizens were allowed to cast a vote. According to a Board of Education spokesperson, under this interpretation of the school code, it is possible that some school councils in a few Chicago districts may be completely controlled by non-citizens and foreigners. School policies and public tax dollars may be decided and spent by people who are not U. S. citizens.

Not all big cities in the U. S. have a policy of letting non-citizens vote in municipal elections. Alexandra Marks, writing in the Christian Science Monitor (27 April, '04) quotes New York City's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who opposes enfranchising non-citizens. ''There have been an awful lot of people over the years that have fought and died for the right to vote,'' the mayor said at a press conference earlier this month. ''If you want to have full rights, and voting is a very big part of full rights, become a citizen.''

Mayor Bloomberg's opposition to non-citizens voting may be short lived. This spring, the New York City Council will hold hearings on whether the 1.3 million legal immigrants that live in New York but who are not citizens should have the right to vote for all local offices. In Chicago, controlled by Democrats who realize non-citizens are potential Democratic voters, other public policies in Chicago and Illinois may be decided soon by people who are not U. S. citizens.

One only has to read the review by Jim Boulet, Jr. of David Schippers's book ''Sell Out'' in the National Review to realize that non-citizen voting rights is furthered by the Democrats in order to win elections. Boulet writes, '' 'Sell Out' also includes an appendix of documents which demonstrate Al Gore's direct involvement in turning Citizenship USA into a pro-Democrat voter mill in which English tests were waived and criminal records of prospective citizens swept under the rug in places such as New York City, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, and Newark.''

How do African-Americans in Illinois, most of whom vote Democratic, view this policy of extending the right to vote so easily to non-citizens? After all, many Americans had to fight long and hard to get the right to vote, especially African-Americans and women.

Al Sharpton's campaign for president states that, ''Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-Illinois)���believing in democracy and that VOTING IS A HUMAN RIGHT���has proposed to add a voting rights amendment to the U. S. Constitution based on the individual RIGHT of all Americans to vote. It was introduced in the U. S. House as H. J. Res. 28.''

The proposed Jackson amendment wants it ''Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States: SECTION 1. All citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, shall have the right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.''

Jackson wants to guarantee the right to vote in this amendment to CITIZENS, only. Yet, we do not see him making the same proposal to the Illinois legislature, or opposing the voting of non-citizens in Chicago school council elections. With Democrats, you always have to keep an eye on both the front door and the back door. If they can't get votes one way, then they will get them another way.

The response by other African-American community leaders in Illinois to the issue of non-citizens voting has been slight at best. Democratic candidate for U. S. Senate, Barack Obama, has so far been silent on this issue. In face of this silence, it would be encouraging if the Republican candidate for U. S. Senate, Jack Ryan, would support a reform of the Illinois School Code and election laws to prevent non-citizens from voting. Then, we would only have to worry about dead people voting in Chicago elections.


This page printed from: http://www.americandaily.com/article/1028