I think the discomfort with this situation comes from very foundational conservative thinking. It is a tenent of conservatism that a well ordered and correct society should resemble a pyramid: there should be a few people with wealth, privilege and power (political and otherwise) at the top, supported by a broad base of people with less wealth and less power at the bottom. Including noncitizens in voting upsets this hierarchical model, where outsiders oughtn’t have any political clout at all.
But there’s another element of conservative ideology that is violated by including noncitizens in the electoral process. It is zero-sum thinking that posits any gain for one group results in a loss to another. So handing out rights and and opportunities for political participation will diminish the the rights and opportunities for the rest of us.
As a leftist, I can understand this reasoning and see this it is really a functional way of organizing and dealing with people and situations, as long as you are ok with the consequences of of the hierarchal model. I feel that the advantages of such an approach are far outweighed by the disadvantages. I personally don’t think it’s worth it to accept those consequences, nor do I think zero-sum applies well to issues like rights or matters of common good.
Alteon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
She’s essentially there to help with getting non-citizens to vote in local elections, which is a completely legal thing to do. None of those people are able to vote in federal elections, so it’s comical seeing people absolutely freak tf out that our country is devolving into anarchy.
Kaboom@reddthat.com 8 months ago
You do realize that its not a good thing that non-citizens vote, right?
Theprogressivist@lemmy.world 8 months ago
If they pay taxes why can’t they vote?
Lookin4GoodArgs@lemm.ee 8 months ago
What’s wrong with voting in school board elections?
ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Why?
MomoTimeToDie@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Which is the entire fucking problem.
Alteon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
A lot of these people are legal residents, pay taxes, and are just as interested as you or I in our schools, environment, and public safety. Many of these local laws and policies affect them directly. By allowing them the ability to vote in local, non-federal elections, it gives them a voice and helps to prevent discriminatory and xenophobic policies that can directly affect these people.
It’s also interesting to note that a lot of these people would love to become full citizens, but its a massive time and monetary investment that many of them can’t always afford to go through. So why treat them as sub-human? Why view their ability to have a voice as being “the entire problem”? What is it do you think they are able to do that is so bad by voting in these local elections?