L.A. council member pushes plan to let noncitizens vote in city elections

City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents an Echo Park-to-Hollywood district, released a proposal Wednesday to ask voters in the Nov. 3 election to give the council the power to let noncitizens vote in city elections, including those for mayor and City Council, as well as for Los Angeles Board of Education seats.

The proposal faces multiple hurdles that could derail it. The council must vote to put the measure on the ballot and after that, voters would have to approve it. After that, the council would still need to pass an ordinance revising city election law.

Soto-Martínez, whose parents were at one time undocumented, said his proposal would help L.A.’s immigrant communities at a time when they are under assault from the Trump administration, which has launched immigration raids around the country and sought to revoke birthright citizenship.

“After my parents immigrated here from Mexico, they worked hard, paid taxes, and raised their kids in our public schools, but for decades they had no say in the decisions shaping their community until they became citizens,” Soto-Martínez said.

The proposal, which was also signed by Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, now heads to the council’s rules committee for consideration.

Ira Mehlman, spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said his organization would fight such a proposal, arguing that it “undermines the whole concept of citizenship, and what it means to be a member of American society.”

Mehlman, whose group favors stronger enforcement of federal immigration laws, said L.A. should not allow people to “just show up from the outside and have an equal voice in how the city is run.”

“That is a privilege and a right that is reserved for citizens,” he said.

Dylan Kendall, who is running against Soto-Martínez, also criticized the proposal, but for different reasons. She said she fears it would lead to the creation of “a new government list of noncitizen voters at the very moment Trump’s ICE brigade is looking for more ways to track, target, and kidnap undocumented people.”

“What he’s proposing now sounds less like protecting our community and more like asking people to sign onto a public list that exposes undocumented neighbors to greater danger,” she said.

Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. However, states are allowed to set their own local and statewide election rules.

Noncitizens secured the right to vote in school board races in San Francisco. Oakland voters approved a similar move in 2022 but it has not yet been implemented, according to Ballotpedia.

Meanwhile, voters in Santa Ana rejected a proposal in 2024 to let noncitizens cast ballots in that city’s local races.

Angelica Salas, who heads the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said her group favors the proposal, saying too many Angelenos — green card holders, DACA recipients and others — are facing “taxation without representation.”

“They get taxed the same way. They send their kids to the schools. They have to deal with the repercussions of the decisions of their representatives,” she said. “So they should have a say as to who represents them.”

Soto-Martínez, who is running for a second term in the June 2 election, isn’t the only candidate to favor the idea.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Marissa Roy, who is looking to unseat City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, told the Democratic Socialists of America last year that she supports the effort to give noncitizens the vote in L.A. local elections.

“While the City Council or County Board of Supervisors would need to pass this legislation, as City Attorney, I would make sure that immigrants voting in local elections are protected from the federal government,” she wrote on her DSA candidate questionnaire, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times.

The idea also has the backing of Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who is seeking reelection on the Eastside.

In the race to replace Councilmember Curren Price in South L.A, at least three candidates — community organizer Estuardo Mazariegos, council aide Jose Ugarte and education nonprofit director Elmer Roldan — favor the idea.