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U.S. states weigh letting non-citizens vote

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ilcub76 at 10:36 PM JST - 24th October

I was with you until the language comment. There is no official language in the US. Because white people of European descent have run the country for over 200 years, people assume the "official language" of the US is English, but there is no official language.

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Please know your history before making such comments.

Molenir at 08:20 AM JST - 25th October

Sorry, but English is the Official language of the United States. By congressional decree. Its also been passed on a local level in most states, so as you went on to say, please know your history before making such comments.

ilcub76 was correct. Although many, many attempts have been made to make English the "official language" all congressional attempts have failed.

Many bills and amendments have passed the House or the Senate but none have passed both and been signed by a president.

I am perfectly willing to post the address of many sites that confirm that the many efforts to pass that specific legislation has failed. However it sucks that we cannot post links.

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"To become a citizen, immigrants must be a lawful permanent resident for at least five years, pass tests on English and U.S. history and government, and swear allegiance to the United States."

Rwaganje has lived in Maine 13 years but hasn't started to assimilate, yet he wants the privileges of a citizen, even if limited (for now) to state elections.

There's a telling part in this article that describes a guy who doesn't speak English well, been here 18 years, has nine kids, is looking for a job and wants to vote for the Democrats. Yep, just the kind of guy we want voting on tax measures.

Foreign tourists pay sales taxes on goods and services - should they be allowed to vote as well? First the state will let the Green Carders vote, then those with visas, then Matriculas, then any body in town on election day.

As to the an earlier question of why should someone give up their nationality in order to vote, I have to wonder at the thought processes involved. You emigrate to a country because the one you left didn't give you an opportunity to prosper, or there are people there who would kill you, yet you don't want to embrace your new country? Like all too many who have recently come to the U.S., mostly illegals, they don't want to become Americans, just live like them.

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Because white people of European descent have run the country for over 200 years, people assume the "official language" of the US is English, but there is no official language.

Like it or not democracy did not come from Asia. It did not come from South America. And it sure as hell didn't come from Africa.

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"Why be a long term immigrant when you have the opportunity to become a citizen?" I ask myself this on a regular basis. And I still don't have an answer. Part of it is that I grew up with the idea that dual nationality is common and I am eligle for EU citizenship, in addition to Canadian, and the idea of giving up both of those options for just one single nationality seems wasteful. Not that that is a satisfactory excuse, but I still haven't gone to the bother of naturalizing and getting myself the right to vote here, where I live, work, pay into the pension scheme, pay all my taxes,...

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Hey smith, I GAVE UP MY MEXICAN NATIONALITY just to have a say in the USA's elections, to try to make a change in how our TAXES are spent, and I have no regrets. I am proud to be MEXICAN and very happy to have US nationality too. If these other immigrant fools are not ready to give up their prior nationality, TOO BAD!

Doesn't the US allow dual citizenship with Mexico? If it does why would you give up your Mexican nationality?

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Why should someone give up their own nationality just so they have a say as to where their tax money goes?

Why should those who have taken the trouble to become citizens, who have pledged allegience to the country, have their vote diluted by those who don't, merely because they have been granted the priviledge of living in the country on a temporary basis?

I was with you until the language comment. There is no official language in the US. Because white people of European descent have run the country for over 200 years, people assume the "official language" of the US is English, but there is no official language.

Sorry, but English is the Official language of the United States. By congressional decree. Its also been passed on a local level in most states, so as you went on to say, please know your history before making such comments.

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Why be a long term immigrant when you have the opportunity to become a citizen? If you don't want to be a citizen of the country you're in then why move there? In this day and age I'd expect those that demand rights to vote and participate in the country they're in to at least qualify as a citizen. If not, no luck.

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Funny how they say in the article that these are long term immigrants. Iwant to know, are they legal or illegal?

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i think it's a bad idea to give non-citizens the right to vote. what advantage is there to being a citizen?

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oooohhhhh.... bad idea. There should be some privileges and rights (along with obligations) only given to those who are citizens.

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The ability to vote should remain a benefit of citizenship.

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Supporters of Portland’s ballot measure say the process is cumbersome, time-consuming and costly. The filing fee and fingerprinting costs alone are $675, and many immigrants spend hundreds of dollars more on English and civics classes and for a lawyer to help them through the process.

$675 isn't a great deal of money. And language classes? Seems that you have the ability to practice every day for free if you want to. I really don't see the burden. Besides, there have to be some minimum requirements, right?

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theFu said:

t isn't about the money, rather it is about the common knowledge of history, government, language

I was with you until the language comment. There is no official language in the US. Because white people of European descent have run the country for over 200 years, people assume the "official language" of the US is English, but there is no official language.

Please know your history before making such comments.

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I am proud to be MEXICAN and very happy to have US nationality too. If these other immigrant fools are not ready to give up their prior nationality, TOO BAD!" And the best post of the day goes to fellow Latino elbuamexicano. He's damn right.

Japan Take Note": man, as highly educated as you are, you could make a lot more money in the US than in Japan, so if you donb't like the rules just leave.

they are paying taxes" well and what about the ones who aren't working or are out of a job? Better yet, what about those receiving public assistence?

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Hey smith, I GAVE UP MY MEXICAN NATIONALITY just to have a say in the USA's elections, to try to make a change in how our TAXES are spent, and I have no regrets. I am proud to be MEXICAN and very happy to have US nationality too. If these other immigrant fools are not ready to give up their prior nationality, TOO BAD!

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im3ngs: "...and get naturalized when eligible."

Why should someone give up their own nationality just so they have a say as to where their tax money goes?

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It's not that they can't vote, just not YET. So... darn it, if you love your country and community so much and WANT to have your vote count, then say, then pledge allegiance to the country/community in which you be a part of and get naturalized when eligible.

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I am sort of amazed that the English classes or even the whole citizen work is not offered online for free.

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This concerns me. The right to vote should be earned, not given away. That should apply to "automatic citizens" too. When something is given instead of earned, it is worth less. I am concerned about the US$675 costs to become a citizen, that seems excessive, but some amount over US$100 would make most take the process serious enough without being as great a burden. It isn't about the money, rather it is about the common knowledge of history, government, language and desire to join in making decisions within a country. I do like that anyone can become a citizen of the USA. Our differences, taken together, make us all better.

Around the world, about 50% of people eligible to vote don't bother to vote in elections. Something so precious shouldn't go unused.

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It takes a mature nation to do this.

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Democrat vote-buying.

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As long as they've been residents for a certain amount of time and have paid all their dues, I don't see what the problem is. Japan, take note.

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