00:00Today, I'm going to tell you about the latest strange and controversial ballot initiative that
00:04some voters will see on their ballots in November. That is, of course, the non-citizen
00:10voting initiative that the Los Angeles City Council has placed on the ballot.
00:15Non-citizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections. In fact, it's a federal crime. And
00:20there's no state that allows non-citizens to vote in statewide elections. But there are several
00:25states that theoretically at least allow local governments to permit non-citizens to vote.
00:32And a handful of cities have tried to do this. The argument in favor of it is that even if
00:37you're
00:38not a U.S. citizen, you're still paying taxes, you're still using city services, and so you should
00:43have a say in how you're governed. The strong argument against it is that citizenship ought to
00:48mean something. And the most fundamental right of citizenship is the right to vote. So if you're not
00:53a citizen, why should your vote outweigh those of people who are citizens? And conversely,
00:59what incentive is there for you to become a citizen if you already have the vote? Recently, New York City
01:04tried allowing non-citizens to vote, and it was overturned by New York's courts. But in California,
01:11San Francisco allows non-citizens to vote in school board elections, and that has been upheld by courts
01:17in the state. So this remains an open constitutional question. Part of the challenge is that there was a
01:23period in the United States where non-citizens were allowed to vote. We think of it as completely
01:28beyond the pale, but it would not be the first time that it had happened. However, given the fact
01:32that LA is a sanctuary city, opponents are going to raise the point that it's likely at least some
01:37people who came here illegally might also get the right to vote, and that would create even more
01:42controversy.
