Laws allowing foreign citizens to vote dilute the strength of Black Americans to elect a candidate of their choice.
(San Francisco, CA) – March 6, 2023: Today, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of PILF Board Member, Ken Blackwell, to support the striking down of San Francisco’s foreigner law that allow foreigner, here legally and illegally, to vote in school board elections.
The brief argues that expanding the electorate to foreign nationals will dilute Black citizen voting power and diminishes citizenship and the cherished right to vote that comes along with it.
“Citizenship should mean something,” said Ken Blackwell, PILF Board Member. “By allowing foreigners to vote in San Francisco school board elections the city is not only undermining the notion of citizenship, but also diluting the voting power of Black American. We cannot let citizenship cease to mean anything. Black Americans have fought to hard for citizenship and the right to vote to see it diminished.”
New York City also has a law allowing foreign citizens to vote in municipal elections. The Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four Black New York City voters to have the city’s foreign voting bill declared unconstitutional for violating the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act.
Read the full report amicus curiae here.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. PILF has brought lawsuits and won victories in Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and across the United States.
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