The Immigrant Voting Project
Articles 2003 and earlier

Newsday
September 29, 2003
Voting in U.S.: A Privilege Immigrants Must Earn
....[I]n New York City, the rumbling grows louder for noncitizen participation in municipal elections. This is a really bad idea. Why? Because participation in our political system must come with a commitment to basic American values. Happily, there is a way to make that commitment: by gaining American citizenship. Legal immigrants are encouraged to do so. And if they don't want to bother? Well, they shouldn't expect a voice in government. READ MORE

New York Sun 
September 25, 2003
Ferrer Seizes Upon Idea To Permit Aliens a Vote In Municipal Elections
Puts Down a Marker on an Issue Dropped by Charter Commission
By BENJAMIN SMITH Staff Reporter of the Sun
One of Mayor Bloomberg's leading Democratic rivals in next year's race for City Hall has revived a proposal to let noncitizens vote in local elections - an issue the Charter Revision Commission considered and abruptly dropped.

Fernando Ferrer, the former Bronx borough president and a likely challenger to Mr. Bloomberg in 2005, last week sent a letter to Mr. Bloomberg and other elected officials suggesting that they "consider this proposal and its implications for your constituents." READ MORE

September 22, 2003
New York Daily News
"Let legal immigrants vote in city "
By RON HAYDUK and MICHELE WUCKER
"Whoever intends to live in a country must wish that country well, and has a natural right of assisting in the preservation of it," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1776. America's Founding Fathers rightly believed that allowing newcomers to vote while awaiting citizenship was a natural way to encourage them to build a stake in our democracy. READ MORE