A public comment session will be held in Northampton, Massachusetts, Tuesday night on whether non-citizens should be able to vote in city elections.
A committee is reviewing Northampton's charter and will propose changes in many areas, including voting.
Stanley Moulton chairs the committee. He said the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, which represents immigrants, suggested allowing non-citizens to vote in city elections.
"They live and work here, and feel that they should be given the right to vote on issues and officials in the community that are making decisions affecting their lives," Moulton said.
This would not affect state and federal elections.
The committee has yet to adopt the proposal. Their current recommendations include allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.
Moulton said that idea came from the city's youth commission.
"The youth commission argued that young people have taken the initiative in a number of areas in recent years, related to such things as the #MeToo movement, gun violence," Moulton said. "Young people can already get driver's licenses and so forth, and have rights we think should be extended to the right to vote in municipal elections."
The charter panel also recommends adopting ranked-choice voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference. That's on the ballot next week in neighboring Easthampton.
Any charter change proposals in Northampton will have to undergo a lengthy approval process before becoming law.
