Rockville residents weigh in on if non-US citizens should vote in city elections

A city in Montgomery County, Maryland, is weighing whether it should allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in municipal elections, and residents last week expressed their opinions on the move. “Let’s eliminate the barriers for noncitizens to take part fully in our democracy,” said Sandy Shan, a naturalized citizen who came to the U.S. a decade ago and now lives in Rockville. “Noncitizens live here, work here, pay taxes here, raised families here, start businesses here and send their kids to school here,” she continued. Among other changes, such as ranked choice voting and lowering the voting age to 16 for local election, the Rockville City Council is contemplating allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections during their revisions to the city’s public charter.