De Blasio admits to ‘mixed feelings’ on allowing noncitizens to vote in elections

Outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) on Sunday said he had “mixed feelings” about the New York City Council’s recent decision to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.

While appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” de Blasio was asked by host Chris Wallace why he did not veto the measure over his concerns surrounding the legality of the measure.

“I have mixed feelings. I’ve been very open about it on this law and I think there are big legal questions, but I also respect the city council. They made a decision,” de Blasio said, adding that he is currently focused on combating the COVID-19 pandemic and the emerging omicron variant.

Last week, city lawmakers adopted a new measure to allow residents who are not U.S. citizens to vote in certain for mayor and city council positions. The measure passed, 33 to 14. 

Soon after it passed, de Blasio expressed some concern, telling local media that he wanted “to make sure that there’s maximum incentive to finish the citizenship process.”

The new measure could potentially allow up to 1 million more New York residents to vote in elections. Undocumented immigrants will still be barred from voting in local elections, and noncitizens will still not be permitted to vote in state or federal races

During the interview on Sunday, Wallace also asked de Blasio, who has filed paperwork toward a potential gubernatorial campaign, about recent polling data that showed him lagging behind Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). The data showed that only 6 percent of voters support de Blasio to be the next governor and a majority had an unfavorable view of him.

“That reminds me of pretty much every election I’ve ever been in. I’ve been an underdog many, many times. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,” said de Blasio. “And elections are a chance to tell people your vision and what you’ve done. My vision is that we’ve got to change a lot of things in this state, including helping families, working families are struggling in the state of New York. They need a lot more help.”

When pressed by Wallace on whether this was confirmation of his run, de Blasio said he would have more to say on the matter soon.