Judge Amy Berman Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee, serves as senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Jackson ruled last week that the plaintiff – a group of seven U.S. citizen voters represented by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) – lacked standing to challenge the 2022 law because they could not demonstrate how they are harmed by noncitizens who vote and run for local office.
The "Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act" allows noncitizens – including illegal aliens and foreign embassy staff members – to vote in municipal elections.
Christopher Hajec is director of litigation at the IRLI, which is a branch of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
"We claim and show that the law is unconstitutional, that American citizens have a [constitutional] right to govern themselves," he explains. "And that means not being governed through voting by citizens of other countries."
Hajec says his firm disagrees with Judge Jackson's contention that the plaintiffs – all of whom are registered to vote in DC – did not have standing.
"We think that's a flawed decision," he states bluntly. "And in any event, it was always going to be decided at a level higher than the federal district court because one side or the other would have appealed any decision – and this judge didn't even reach the merits of our arguments. [She] probably didn't want to."
But the Constitution is "very clear," says the IRLI attorney. "The Supreme Court has held that the right to govern is reserved to citizens – and governing includes voting," he contends.
Hajec says IRLI intends to file an appeal within the next few weeks. The case, he says, could eventually end up being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
