By Michael Bielawski

The organization Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) is supporting efforts to undo non-citizen voting in Burlington for certain local elections.

The city had elected via a charter change in 2023 to allow non-citizens who are still residents in the city to vote in certain non-state-wide elections. Some have noted that even local elections impact the state-wide education budget in Vermont, and this point is important to the essence of the lawsuit.

“In a new lawsuit filed today, RITE is supporting two concerned citizens who are being denied their right to live in a state governed by its citizens because Burlington has allowed non-citizens to participate in its elections,” the organization states.

The press release continues, “As a result, non-citizens now have the power to affect financial decisions that have implications for all Vermont taxpayers.”

The lawsuit itself states, “Plaintiffs seek an injunction compelling Defendant to refrain from implementing the invalid voting scheme, including refraining from registering noncitizen voters to participate in education-related elections and referendums in the City of Burlington.”

The plaintiffs are Michele Morin and Karen Rowell, each of whom live in Burlington. In addition to arguing that non-citizen voting impacts statewide education spending, they are also making the case that it dilutes the value of their vote as a citizen in any election.

Brady Toensing, a lawyer and former Vice-Chair of the Vermont State GOP, is working on the case. His presence in Vermont courtrooms is familiar over the years. The Burlington Free Press noted in 2017, “from public records requests about Vermont Health Connect, to corruption and campaign finance complaints against the attorney general, to a recent case involving the display of a Hindu swastika… Toensing has a long history of challenging [the political establishment].”

Derek Lyon, President of RITE , suggests that immigration activists are working to undermine the democratic process by allowing for non-citizen voting. His organization notes that while the Vermont Supreme Court had determined that only state-wide elections require citizenship, RITE further notes that because Vermont uses a statewide education fund that means all school policies must be off limits for non-citizens.

“This anti-democratic agenda is progressing at an alarming pace. It began in two small towns and has now reached Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. Non-citizen voting violates citizens’ inherent right to direct how their communities are governed,” Lyon wrote.

Lyon continued that U.S. jurisdictions must be governed by U.S. citizens.

“The non-citizen voting movement achieves the left’s goal of legalizing foreign interference in American elections. It threatens the rule of law and must be stopped before it further infects Vermont and other states in this country. RITE is supporting this lawsuit to enforce the constitutionally protected rights of citizenship,” he wrote.

The lawsuit further states that permitting noncitizens to vote on these local issues violates the Vermont Constitution.

“Chapter II, Section 42 of the Vermont Constitution establishes United States citizenship as a requirement for voting on “freemen” issues, which include “any matter that concerns the State of Vermont,” it states.

The organization also notes, “RITE is filing this new case against the City of Burlington because the Vermont Supreme Court previously noted that “[a]vote municipal in name, but traditionally the province of ‘freemen’ in substance, could not avoid the requirements of citizenship.”

Elsewhere in the nation, in New York City a similar law that allowed for non-citizen voting in certain local elections was struck down in the New York Supreme Court.

“We determine that this local law was enacted in violation of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law, and thus, must be declared null and void,” Appellate Judge Paul Wooten wrote.

The writer is an author for the Vermont Daily Chronicle