The Big Apple could become known around the world as the city where the streets are paved with votes.
A City Council bill proposed yesterday would make New York the only large city in America to grant voting rights to legal immigrants who aren’t US citizens.
Anyone living in the city legally for at least six months — including students with temporary visas or those with green cards — would be allowed to cast ballots in local elections starting in 2017.
Advocates estimate that 850,000 to 1.3 million new voters could be added to the rolls, potentially shifting the city’s entire political landscape.
“There are those who might be afraid of this bill, because if we add 850,000 new voices to the discussion, it would have a tremendous impact on the way the City of New York is run,” said Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens), the chief sponsor.
Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan), who represents Chinatown, said that legal immigrants should have the same voting rights as citizens, because it can often take a decade to attain citizenship.
The bill is the third of its type to be drafted in the council since 2004, but this version appears to have more than enough sponsors to pass and to override a mayoral veto.
There are only five small towns in Maryland that currently allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Mayor Bloomberg panned the idea yesterday.
“Voting is the most important right we are granted as citizens, and you should have to go through the process of becoming a citizen and declaring allegiance to this country before being given that right,” Bloomberg said through a spokeswoman.
The proposal also faces hurdles with the state election law that requires voters to be US citizens.
But immigrant-rights advocates insisted that state law also allows local governments to “override” that provision for municipal elections.
In the city, the posts covered would be for mayor, comptroller, public advocate and the council.
Bloomberg read the law differently and expressed “serious concerns” about both the bill’s legality and impact.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is running for mayor, was noncommittal on whether she would support the measure.
One City Hall source said it would be difficult for anyone running for office this year to attack the bill.
“Mayoral politics changes everything,” said the source. “At a time when people are looking for any mayoral advantage, we see bills like this here, in Albany and in Wasghington, that wouldn’t come to the fore otherwise,” said the source.
The proposal comes as the US Senate has begun work on major overahaul of federal immigration policy that would create a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal aliens.