With a tie-breaking vote from the mayor, the City Council in College Park approved the measure to allow undocumented immigrants, student visa holders and residents with green cards to vote in local elections, The Washington Post reports.
Several other cities in Maryland already allow noncitizens to vote locally. Chicago and San Francisco also offer limited noncitizen voting. The trend runs counter to the anti-immigration sentiment in many areas of the country, but supporters say residents of cities and towns should have a say in how their government operates, whether they are citizens or not.
"The mayor and City Council are not deciding national policy. We make decisions about trash pickup, snow removal and equipment for the parks," College Park Councilwoman Christine Nagle told The New York Times in August. "We have shared concerns with our neighbors regardless of whether they are U.S. citizens."
