A migrant-labor organizer wants Toledo officials to grant illegal immigrants the right to vote in municipal elections, a controversial proposal that has gained traction in other U.S. communities but might never work in northwest Ohio’s largest city.

Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, proposed Toledo rethink its voter eligibility rules at a Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority meeting March 22. He said it is the first time he has publicly suggested the change, though he has discussed it privately for several years.

“I’ve always advocated that if you’re going to have people living in your community, and they’re working, and they’re paying taxes, then they ought to be able to vote for their local representatives,” said Mr. Velasquez, who holds a seat on the port authority’s board of directors.

He broached the idea during discussion following an informal state-of-the-city presentation from Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, during which a fresh census estimate of metro Toledo’s population came up. The latest figures show the Toledo metro area lost 923 people between mid-2016 and July 1, 2017, bringing the total tallied to 603,668.

“If you extend voting rights to people on the basis of residency as opposed to citizenship, you’re going to get people to want to be counted,” Mr. Velasquez said.

An official from the U.S. Census Bureau already has visited Toledo twice this year in preparation for the next official census in 2020, even though that’s two years away, Mr. Kapszukiewicz told the board.

“Every [funding] formula is tied to headcount — everything,” the mayor said after Mr. Velasquez estimated there are 8,000 to 10,000 illegal immigrants living in Toledo. “People are here, using our resources, so we may as well count them.”

But he was in no hurry to endorse Mr. Velasquez’ suggestion afterward.

“I know what Baldemar is saying, and I was not dishonest when I said I hadn’t heard it before,” he said. “I’ll run it by our law department, have them study the legality of it, and see if other cities have experimented with it.”

Other cities have looked at the issue. In November, parent or guardian non-citizens — either illegal immigrants or green-card holders — will be allowed to vote in San Francisco’s school board elections, so long as they are not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction. Chicago non-citizens will be able to register to vote using new municipal ID cards set to be available in the spring.

Non-citizens in Takoma Park, Maryland, have been allowed to vote in local elections since 1993, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

Ron Hayduck, an associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University and author of the book “Democracy for All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights in the U.S.,” has argued allowing illegal immigrants to vote was widely practiced during the first 150 years of U.S. history.

Mr. Hayduck on the website for his Immigrant Voting Project said non-citizens have historically “voted in local, state and federal elections in 40 states and federal territories.”

“Early Americans viewed alien suffrage as an effective method to encourage newcomers to make the U.S. their home,” he wrote in his book. “And it worked. Budding Americans learned civics by practice. Getting a taste of democracy furthered immigrants’ understanding of our political system and nurtured attachments to their adopted communities.”

LaVera Scott, director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said any change to voter eligibility would require a change in Ohio law, which requires voters at all levels to be U.S. citizens.

“Registration is controlled by the state,” she said. “It would have to start there.”

Sam Rossi, press secretary for the Ohio Secretary of State, said Ohio’s voter eligibility requirements are “pretty clear” on requiring proof of citizenship.

Furthermore, Ms. Scott said, Lucas County’s current voting systems would not support allowing certain voters to participate only on a portion of the ballot. Voters are assigned to polling places based solely on geographic precincts, she noted.

“We cannot isolate a specific voter on what they can or cannot vote on,” Ms. Scott said.

Still Gary Johnson, an at-large Toledo City Council member and Democrat, said he supports allowing working, taxpaying non-citizens the right to vote for city council members, school board members, and on local ballot initiatives.

“The government was founded on not having taxation without representation. If you pay your fair share of taxes, you are entitled to have a say,” he said. “To say that undocumented workers who are paying taxes are not entitled to that, I would disagree with that.”

But he isn’t sure if city council would have the legal authority to change the law when it comes to voter eligibility. Furthermore, he wondered if illegal immigrants would want to identify themselves with a Trump Administration that’s tough on border control.

“I certainly agree with the premise, but I just don’t know how it could get done,” he said.

Alfonso Narvaez, treasurer for the Lucas County Republican Party who ran for an at-large council seat in 2017, said he is against allowing illegal immigrants the right to vote. He said voting is a right that comes with being a legal U.S. citizen, whether you’re born in the country or legally naturalized.

“So for an undocumented person to get the right to vote, to me, they’re kind of skipping the whole process,” he said.

Tom Waniewski, a Republican who represents District 5, said he often thinks of his grandparents who moved to the U.S. from Poland and the naturalization process they went through to earn the right to vote. He said he would not support an ordiance that would grant voting rights to those who came illegally to the U.S.

“It is extremely clear, crystal clear, that the Constitution says who votes, and you have to be a natural citizen,” Mr. Waniewski said. “It’s spelled out in the 14th Amendment.”

Mr. Narvaez said if the city wants to address the issue of voting, elected officials should address the low voter turnout in Lucas County. Only 13.5 percent of all registered voters cast a ballot in the September, 2017 primary, and 30 percent turned out for the general election in November, 2017, Board of Elections figures show.

“I think that’s where the main issue is, getting the average person out to vote,” Mr. Narvaez said.

Council President Matt Cherry said he is open to exploring the idea, but he wondered what legal authority city council would have to make the change.

“If it ever came to a court case or a court battle, would it hold up?” he said.

Contact Sarah Elms at selms@theblade.com, 419-724-6103, or on Twitter @BySarahElms.

First Published March 31, 2018, 12:30 p.m.