Should Non-Citizens be Allowed to Vote - Essay Example

Should ‘non-citizens’ be allowed to vote Introduction Political systems have regulations that govern freedoms and rights of individuals within theirterritories. Such regulations define the rights of every class of people. Citizens are for example granted different rights from other residents in a country. In the United States for example, ‘non-citizens’ have not been accorded the right to vote. As a result, there have been campaigns and calls for extending voting rights to ‘non-citizens’ in the United States.

This paper seeks to refute the calls for ‘non-citizens’ voting rights in the United States elections. The paper will explore some of the associated disadvantages of allowing ‘non-citizens’ to vote in national elections. Why ‘non-citizens’ should not be allowed to vote There have been political and social moves calling for the voting rights of ‘non-citizens’, an opinion that I strongly oppose. John DeStefano, the mayor for New Heaven among other democrats, have been on the forefront campaigning that ‘non-citizens’ be allowed to vote (Melia, p. 1). The first reason against allowing ‘non-citizens’ to vote, lies in the definition of citizenship.

A citizen is a member of a political society who pledges political allegiance to the authority of the society. This definition established a strong link between citizenship, political system, and voting processes in the political system. A person who is not a citizen has therefore not pledge an allegiance to the subject system and has no stake in the system. A degree of care was therefore observed in restricting the voting rights to citizens only. Extending the voting rights will therefore undermine the level of care in the nation’s election for its political power.

While citizens will be keen to elect the best leaders for the nation, ‘non-citizens’ may only be voting for a formality or for being part of the American culture. Supported by the fact that ‘non-citizens’ have no vested allegiance to the country, and their continuously increasing number due to immigration, allowing ‘non-citizens’ to vote may negatively influence the choice of political leaders towards bad governance of the country. Vesting the voting right in citizens alone will reduce such risks because citizens have the interest of the nation at their hearts.

‘Non-citizens’ should therefore not be allowed to vote in order to facilitate protection of the nation’s interest in political stability and sound political decision making (Jackson, p. 1). Provisions of the American federal and state laws also challenge the argument to allow ‘non-citizens’ to vote. The gap between ‘non-citizens’ and illegal immigrants is legal and not political. In political sense, these categories of people are the same. They do not have their roots in the nation and most likely pledges allegiance to other countries.

Allowing ‘non-citizens’ the right to vote when illegal immigrants are denied would therefore be irrational because the two groups fall in the same political class. The level of participation of these people in political activities such as political campaigns also illustrates the zeal that these individuals have in being part of the American politics. Allowing ‘non-citizens’ the voting right will prompt the call for voting rights of other immigrants and the American suffrage will be infiltrated with the destiny of the nation vested in the hands of people who do not have primary care of the nation.

Again, for the sake of safeguarding the nation’s interest, the voting right should not be extended to any class of ‘non-citizens’ (Jackson, p. 1). Even though becoming an American citizen is not such an easy task, it defines a high level of a person’s commitment to dedicate to the nation. The process that includes ‘oath-taking’ is what grants a person a right vote. Allowing ‘non-citizens’ to vote, without the voting right, will therefore be undermining the citizens’ voting right.

This will also reduced the treasured value of American citizenship. Similarly, the ‘non-citizens’ will not appreciate the power to vote as the citizens would. Allowing them to vote will therefore reduce the value of the power to vote (Jackson, p. 1). Even though proponents for allowing ‘non-citizens’ to vote have some ground for their arguments such as economic involvement in taxation, it should be noted that economic aspects of the nation are far distinct from political aspects and does not institute political allegiance.

Allowing a ‘non-citizen’ to vote because of economic contribution in taxes would still pose a possibility of threat to political aspects (Melia, p. 1). Conclusion Though politicians have been fronting for extension of voting rights to ‘non-citizens’, this move has potential disadvantages to political aspects of the nation as compared to possible economic contributions of the ‘non-citizens’. The ‘non-citizens’ should therefore not be allowed to vote. Works cited Jackson, Larry.

“Should we give non citizens the right to vote?” Political realities. 26 October 2010. Web. 04 April 2012. Melia, Michael. “Let illegals, other noncitizens vote, New Haven mayor says.” The Washington Times. 20 December 2011. Web. 04 April 2012.