While federal law and state constitutions draw a hard line at citizenship for statewide and national contests, a handful of municipalities across the country carve out exceptions for local and school board elections.
Federal Boundaries and the 1996 Congressional Line
Federal statute has explicitly barred noncitizens from casting ballots in federal elections—including the U.S. House, Senate, and presidency—since Congress passed a restrictive measure in 1996. That federal barrier leaves state and local governance outside its direct reach, creating a constitutional space where states and municipalities hold authority over their own voter qualifications.
Demographic data from the Pew Research Center places the scale of the noncitizen population at more than 28 million people living in the U.S. in 2023. That total breaks down into 11.9 million permanent residents, 2.1 million temporary residents such as students and foreign workers, and approximately 14 million immigrants residing in the country without legal permission.
Voter Registration Safeguards and State Constitutional Bans
Every U.S. state requiring voter registration mandates that individuals attest to their U.S. citizenship when signing up, and 12 states have enacted laws requiring documentary proof of citizenship in at least some circumstances. In 2024, eight states approved ballot measures explicitly prohibiting noncitizen voting in their state constitutions.
Local Experiments in Maryland, D.C., and California
Despite the tightening of statewide rules, several local jurisdictions continue to permit noncitizens to vote in municipal or school board races. As of October 2026, the District of Columbia alongside specific municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont allow noncitizens to participate in local elections.
Maryland’s state constitution grants municipalities broad authority to expand local voting eligibility beyond state qualifications without requiring state legislative approval. Fifteen Maryland municipalities—including Barnesville, Brentwood, Cheverly, Chevy Chase Section 3, Colmar Manor, Edmonston, Frederick, Garrett Park, Glen Echo, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Mount Rainier, Riverdale Park, Somerset, and Takoma Park—have utilized this home-rule authority to extend voting rights to noncitizen residents in local elections.
In the nation’s capital, the D.C. Council passed the Noncitizen Vote Act in October 2022. Following congressional review, the law survived a challenge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which dismissed a lawsuit brought by local voters in March 2024. Plaintiffs subsequently appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which heard oral arguments in March 2025.
California has seen its own judicial battles over municipal enfranchisement. San Francisco voters passed Proposition N in 2016, allowing noncitizen parents and guardians of children in the school district to vote for members of the Board of Education. Though a county superior court judge struck down the ordinance in July 2022 as a violation of the state constitution, a California Court of Appeal overturned that ruling in August 2023, permitting the program to stand. Meanwhile, in Oakland, voters approved a similar charter amendment for school board elections with 67% support in 2022, though the measure remained unimplemented as of October 2026.
