Democratic officials who run the village of Yellow Springs, a progressive college town near Dayton, are persisting in their effort to legalize noncitizen voting.
Mayor Pam Conine (D) is pushing for the enactment of a state constitutional amendment that would actualize the policy. Yellow Springs voters approved a referendum in 2019 allowing dozens of noncitizen residents of the village to participate in local and state elections, but the measure never went into effect.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) instructed the Greene County Board of Elections only to accept voter registrations from U.S. citizens. When Conine told the press she and other Yellow Springs leaders want the state constitution changed so the 2019 policy can be reinstated, LaRose took to Twitter to denounce the idea and to urge Buckeye Staters to pass Issue 2 next November. The statewide ballot question to which the secretary referred would amend the state constitution to clarify that only citizens may vote in any Ohio election.
“I was able to stop this foolish idea once, but now Yellow Springs is at it again … ,” LaRose wrote. “THIS is why we need Ohio to vote YES on State Issue 2 this November!”
In remarks to reporters, Conine pressed her case for expanding the franchise to noncitizens.
“We believe that this adds value to our village,” she said. “These are folks who are business owners, who have children in our schools, who pay taxes and are very much a fabric of our community.”
She reiterated the contention officials held in 2019 that the Ohio Constitution permits municipalities to exercise “home rule” authority to “exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary, and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws.”
LaRose rejected the home-rule argument insofar as Article V, Section 1 of the state constitution explicitly states that eligible voters are U.S. citizens and therefore the village was attempting to contravene state law.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Ohio Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Yellow Springs” by U.S. State Department.
Simple solution….illegals voting is criminal thus the cities votes should not be counted in any election.
I hope she wins. Illegals break our laws by entering our country NOT following our entry laws. English needs to be taught to those who want illegals to vote since they can’t read the Constitution saying citizens are citizens with voting rights. Illegals don’t have rights only those rights democrats give illegals.
Yellow Springs is not just a progressive town as is implied it has been Communist haven going back to the 50s and 60s.
If Ohio enacts a law so that noncitizens can vote. Then, all nonresidents should be able to cross the state line and vote also.
The Mayor could destroy what little trust we currently have in the voting system. She should be impeached, and made to post a bond to make sure if this insane and dangerous Woke idea spreads, she and Yellow Springs funds the clean-up of every bogus vote entered.
In communist like Madison, Wi. Students at uw Madison are allowed to vote if their home is elsewhere. A few of the bomb throwers have even been allowed to hold office. So technically these sicko leftists could vote twice, once in wi and again at home.