Ortt, Hawley pleased with court decision that won’t allow non-citizens in NYC to vote

State Sen. Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, and Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, are praising a decision by a state Supreme Court judge that strikes down a law that would have allowed hundreds of thousands on non-citizen residents the right to vote in New York City.

Judge Ralph Porzio ruled the law violated the state constitution, which says that “[e]very citizen” is entitled to vote.

The City Council passed the law last December. It went into effect after both Mayor Bill de Blasio and his successor Eric Adams declined to either sign it or veto it.

The City Council passed the law last December, and it went into effect after both Mayor Bill de Blasio and his successor in January, Eric Adams, declined to either sign it or veto it. The NYC law allowed lawful permanent residents to vote in city elections, but not state or federal elections.

Ortt, the Republican leader of the State Senate, issued this statement: “Today’s decision by the state Supreme Court is a massive victory for election integrity in our state. From the start, it was obvious that the New York City Council was acting unconstitutionally when they voted to grant more than 800,000 non-citizens the ability to vote in elections.

“This pattern of behavior by One Party Rule at the City and State level continues to place their political futures above the needs and best interests of New Yorkers.

“We have already seen New Yorkers and our judicial system overwhelmingly reject these self-preservation tactics by One Party Rule, whether it’s defeating their transparently political constitutional amendments at the polls last November, or ruling their hyper-partisan gerrymander unconstitutional earlier this year.

“I commend Senate Deputy Leader Andrew Lanza and every Republican who signed onto this successful lawsuit. The Senate Republican Conference will always remain committed to upholding the integrity of our elections, upholding our constitution, and opposing hyper-partisan attacks on our democracy.”

Assemblyman Hawley issued this statement: “Today’s decision reasserts the basic principle that our elections are for citizens of our state and that they will be operated in a manner compliant with the provisions of our state constitution.

“Maintaining sensible safeguards on our electoral processes ensures our elections are fair and that their outcomes can be trusted, so I am glad the judge in this case put the law and our constitution before partisan political interests.”