Brookline Town Meeting supports giving legal non-citizens the

right to vote in local elections

By Laura Paine/staff writer
Wicked Local Brookline
Posted Nov 18, 2010 @ 07:00 AM
Last update Nov 30, 2010 @ 08:20 PM

Brookline — Brookline Town Meeting approved a petition that would give immigrants with
Green Cards the right to vote in local elections, rejecting the recommendation of selectmen
to let residents vote on the matter first.
Brookline is one of several communities statewide, including Newton and Cambridge,
which has chosen to extend voting rights to legal immigrants.The petition must be approved
by the state Legislature before it can take effect.
At the second night of the Special Town Meeting, Town Meeting member Rebecca Stone
said that not allowing permanent legal non-citizens to vote promotes suspicion, fear and
exclusion of the same people the community embraces.
“I want Brookline to have a chance to send a positive message about what it means to value
the diverse members of our community,” said Stone, who is also on the School Committee.
“It’s about the justice of extending the franchise to those with a legitimate stake. The country
did this for women, people of color and for those who go to war. It was the right thing to do.”
The petition was approved without an amendment proposed by Town Meeting member
Stanley Spiegel, which said that authorizing local voting rights for permanent legal residents
in Brookline should be put before the voters. The Board of Selectmen favored the approval of
Article 14 with the amendment. Spiegel said town voters would be appreciative of the
opportunity to have their say in the matter.
“It is presumptuous of us not to include all voters in this decision,” he said. “I don’t think
Town Meeting members should be the sole people to decide who elects us. We have to have
confidence in voters who elected us to do the right thing.”
Selectman Kenneth Goldstein read the Board of Selectmen’s recommendation, which
expressed the belief that legal, permanent residents should be allowed to vote on matters that
directly affect them, but current voters deserve the same right.
“The subject matter of this article is truly one of personal preference, as there is no
constitutional bar to the proposal and no moral imperative in its favor,” Goldstein said.
“Making it subject to referendum gives current voters the right to choose whether or not to
extend voting rights to others. If local voting rights for Green Card aliens is eventually
accepted by the town’s voters, it will represent a true popular mandate for the measure.”
Town Meeting Member Kathe Sternbach Geist was the only voice against the article,
which she said was just an attempt to add school parents to the voter rolls. She referenced
several areas in which she believed school parents had acted irresponsibly, and said that she
has “no reason to believe immigrant parents would behave any differently.”
Note: This story has been edited from its original version, which incorrectly reported that
the Advisory Committee supported the Spiegel amendment.

Laura Paine can be reached at lpaine@cnc.com.

Copyright 2010 Brookline TAB. Some rights reserved