Hyattsville Councilman Supports Non-Citizens Voting Rights For City

An official with a heavy influence in is a strong proponent for non-citizens’ voting rights in local elections.

“We pay taxes in this society, and we are with the same civil rights,” said Councilman Carlos Lizanne (Ward 4). “We believe that the foreign people that pay taxes in a small government like this.”

In Takoma Park, non-citizen residents have been able to vote in mayoral and council elections since 1993, according to city staff. However, non-citizen turnout has been very low with the highest number of voters coming in 1997. cast that year.

Lizanne claims that from both political and historical standpoints, Hispanics have a right to vote in the U.S. He said that conquest in the 1500s shows that Spanish was the first language in the U.S., not English.

Ward 3 resident David Marshall is in firm disagreement and said designation of the title “citizen” speaks for itself.

“You’re not a citizen, you don’t have the right to vote,” he said. “Earning the right to vote is citizenship. Part of controlling the political process in this country is being a citizen in this country.”

In Hyattsville, the proposal is just an idea at this point. Lizanne has brought the issue up for discussion at council meetings, but much more resident and council input has to be taken into account before it is even considered a possibility, said

“For starters, the residents need to elevate it to an issue that they want the council to discuss,” he said. “One would have to make an argument as to why it would be a good idea and what burden that would place on the city.”

Researching how the situation played out in Takoma Park would be a good way to gauge the burdens and benefits of such a move, he said, adding that one of the burdens would be the city’s responsibility to keep track of this special class of voters.

Kim Propeack, a director at agrees with Lizanne that regardless of immigration status, all residents of a municipality should have the right to vote in local elections.

“When you think of all the core functions of most governments—police protection, garbage collection, local licensure issues—these are all issues that are equally relevant to everyone living in the town limits,” Propeack said.

If the city council and residents want to have a discussion to explore ideas, Tartaro said he’s willing to facilitate talks. He added that there’s no harm in weighing the pluses and minuses of it.

“I could argue it both ways, [to vote],” he said. “That is kind of the law of land, and I think that really is a reasonable approach.”

Tartaro added that certain arguments could be made under certain circumstances that are persuasive, saying that the non-citizen population is very underrepresented in the community.

“I guess the real problem here is, when the census says , the question is, ‘How many of them are actually either citizens or legal residents?’ ” he said.

Lizanne, a native of El Salvador and councilmember since 2003, has lived in Hyattsville for more than 30 years. He said extending voting rights to non-citizens will help integrate people into the city’s political process, maybe even prompting them to run for office like he did.

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