Hello everyone! Guess what we get to do in two weeks time? VOTE! Yes that's right ladies and gentlemen, on March 3 we will take to the polls and vote on municipal issues like the school budget, town budget, local ballot referendums, and mayoral candidates. I'd like to briefly take a moment and recount a fictitious discussion that took place between myself and my neighbor the other day (in my brain).
"Morning! Golly, I'm sure excited to vote in a few weeks...three cheers for participatory democracy!" I wave, smiling as I pass my neighbor's porch on my way to work.
"Didn't we just have elections in like, November?" My imaginary neighbor asks me.
"Well yes, we did. However, those were state and federal elections, and these are municipal, or local elections. You'll be voting on things like the school and town budgets, not POTUS or state senators" I reply. "In fact, I'm really excited to vote in March because there's a Referendum on the ballot this year in Burlington to which I've taken particular interest. When Burlington residents, including yourself, receive their ballot on March 3 they will see these questions,
“Shall the City of Burlington Charter, Acts of 1949, No. 298, as amended, be further amended to delete the requirement that certain appointed members of City boards and department heads be required to be legal voters of the city of Burlington and instead require that they be Burlington residents, by amending sections 48, 120, 130, 183, 196, 203, 218, 226, 276, 277, and 322, to reflect the change from ‘legal voter’ to ‘resident’ of Burlington?”
and
"Shall the Vermont Constitution be amended to give residents of Vermont who are not currently citizens of the United States the right to vote in municipal and school elections?"
As I'm sure you know, voting rights in the United States is directly linked to US citizenship. If you are a US citizen, you can vote in elections, if you're not a citizen, you can't vote. Historically though, that has not been the case."
"WHAT!?" Says my imaginary, bunny-slipper-wearing neighbor in disbelief.
"It's true!" I reply. "On February 4th, I attended a panel discussion at City Hall on restoring voting rights to all Vermont residents for local and school board elections. In 1977, non-citizen Vermont residents were stripped of their right to vote in municipal elections. Prior to 1977, voting was extended to 'citizens of the United States and persons who have become citizens of this state by virtue of the constitution or laws are, while residing in the state, citizens thereof.' Essentially, if you live in (insert Vermont town of your choosing), and pay taxes in this town, you can vote in local elections."
"So, why should I care about this? What's the big deal whether non-citizens can vote in Burlington anyway?" Says my privileged-natural-born-citizen neighbor.
"Well, did you know, Seven Days published an article about this issue in January, and according to the author, about 1,900 people, or about 4.5 percent of the population of Burlington are legal non-citizens. All these people live here, pay taxes here, send their children to Burlington schools, contribute actively and positively to the community, and yet have no voice when it comes to issues like, for example, voting on the school budget, which will directly impact many of their, or their families' lives. Remember what happened last year with the school budget in Burlington? It didn't pass the first time, and the second time it passed by only a narrow margin. How would you feel if you had children and you couldn't vote for their school budget? I personally would feel dis-empowered."
"So become a citizen, duh." retorts my voisin(e) (French for "neighbor").
"Did you know it takes years to apply for US citizenship? It can take anywhere between 5 and 15 years to become a US citizen, which is a really long time. That's a long time to wait to vote for your kid's school budget. Additionally, were you aware that you don't actually have to be a US citizen to serve in the military? So you can serve in the military, but not have the right to vote, which I don't think it quite fair."
"Hmm, that doesn't seem very fair at all. I can see how a non-citizen resident in Burlington might become frustrated if they are barred from fully participating in their communities. I wouldn't even be able to serve in some Burlington city boards or departments if I wasn't a US citizen, which would make me sad, because all I really want to do is make Burlington a great place to live for everyone," laments my invisible-now-converted-to-the-cause neighbor. "And if non-citizens were allowed to vote locally, they can see how awesome it is and maybe they'd want to become naturalized citizens."
"That's certainly a possibility!" I reply enthusiastically.
"Well, how can I learn more about this issue?"
"I learned a lot about this issue through the group I Vote Vermont, which is a grassroots group of Vermonters who want to restore local voting rights to non-citizens. They're pretty cool, they have a really informative website, and a Facebook page!"
I add, "Just be sure to double check your Ward, because they recently redrew the lines according to the 2010 census, and I know my Ward has changed from when I last voted in November. You can verify your name on the voter checklist, and see your Ward's sample ballot. Election day is March 3rd and polls are open from 7:00am-7:00pm, but you can go to City Hall and vote anytime between now and March 2nd! I'm so happy to hear you're going to support this referendum!"
"You bet! I'm so excited to exercise my civic responsibility to ensure that everyone in my community can, if they choose, participate as fully and as happily as I will in making our city a better place!" Says the critic-turned-supporter-more-empowered-happy-neighbor as s/he skips off into the sunset to get to the polling station before it closes.
"Morning! Golly, I'm sure excited to vote in a few weeks...three cheers for participatory democracy!" I wave, smiling as I pass my neighbor's porch on my way to work.
"Didn't we just have elections in like, November?" My imaginary neighbor asks me.
"Well yes, we did. However, those were state and federal elections, and these are municipal, or local elections. You'll be voting on things like the school and town budgets, not POTUS or state senators" I reply. "In fact, I'm really excited to vote in March because there's a Referendum on the ballot this year in Burlington to which I've taken particular interest. When Burlington residents, including yourself, receive their ballot on March 3 they will see these questions,
“Shall the City of Burlington Charter, Acts of 1949, No. 298, as amended, be further amended to delete the requirement that certain appointed members of City boards and department heads be required to be legal voters of the city of Burlington and instead require that they be Burlington residents, by amending sections 48, 120, 130, 183, 196, 203, 218, 226, 276, 277, and 322, to reflect the change from ‘legal voter’ to ‘resident’ of Burlington?”
and
"Shall the Vermont Constitution be amended to give residents of Vermont who are not currently citizens of the United States the right to vote in municipal and school elections?"
As I'm sure you know, voting rights in the United States is directly linked to US citizenship. If you are a US citizen, you can vote in elections, if you're not a citizen, you can't vote. Historically though, that has not been the case."
"WHAT!?" Says my imaginary, bunny-slipper-wearing neighbor in disbelief.
"It's true!" I reply. "On February 4th, I attended a panel discussion at City Hall on restoring voting rights to all Vermont residents for local and school board elections. In 1977, non-citizen Vermont residents were stripped of their right to vote in municipal elections. Prior to 1977, voting was extended to 'citizens of the United States and persons who have become citizens of this state by virtue of the constitution or laws are, while residing in the state, citizens thereof.' Essentially, if you live in (insert Vermont town of your choosing), and pay taxes in this town, you can vote in local elections."
"So, why should I care about this? What's the big deal whether non-citizens can vote in Burlington anyway?" Says my privileged-natural-born-citizen neighbor.
"Well, did you know, Seven Days published an article about this issue in January, and according to the author, about 1,900 people, or about 4.5 percent of the population of Burlington are legal non-citizens. All these people live here, pay taxes here, send their children to Burlington schools, contribute actively and positively to the community, and yet have no voice when it comes to issues like, for example, voting on the school budget, which will directly impact many of their, or their families' lives. Remember what happened last year with the school budget in Burlington? It didn't pass the first time, and the second time it passed by only a narrow margin. How would you feel if you had children and you couldn't vote for their school budget? I personally would feel dis-empowered."
"So become a citizen, duh." retorts my voisin(e) (French for "neighbor").
"Did you know it takes years to apply for US citizenship? It can take anywhere between 5 and 15 years to become a US citizen, which is a really long time. That's a long time to wait to vote for your kid's school budget. Additionally, were you aware that you don't actually have to be a US citizen to serve in the military? So you can serve in the military, but not have the right to vote, which I don't think it quite fair."
"Hmm, that doesn't seem very fair at all. I can see how a non-citizen resident in Burlington might become frustrated if they are barred from fully participating in their communities. I wouldn't even be able to serve in some Burlington city boards or departments if I wasn't a US citizen, which would make me sad, because all I really want to do is make Burlington a great place to live for everyone," laments my invisible-now-converted-to-the-cause neighbor. "And if non-citizens were allowed to vote locally, they can see how awesome it is and maybe they'd want to become naturalized citizens."
"That's certainly a possibility!" I reply enthusiastically.
"Well, how can I learn more about this issue?"
"I learned a lot about this issue through the group I Vote Vermont, which is a grassroots group of Vermonters who want to restore local voting rights to non-citizens. They're pretty cool, they have a really informative website, and a Facebook page!"
I add, "Just be sure to double check your Ward, because they recently redrew the lines according to the 2010 census, and I know my Ward has changed from when I last voted in November. You can verify your name on the voter checklist, and see your Ward's sample ballot. Election day is March 3rd and polls are open from 7:00am-7:00pm, but you can go to City Hall and vote anytime between now and March 2nd! I'm so happy to hear you're going to support this referendum!"
"You bet! I'm so excited to exercise my civic responsibility to ensure that everyone in my community can, if they choose, participate as fully and as happily as I will in making our city a better place!" Says the critic-turned-supporter-more-empowered-happy-neighbor as s/he skips off into the sunset to get to the polling station before it closes.
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