ALBANY, N.Y. (TNND) — A New York State ballot measure aimed at protecting residents from discrimination may allow illegal immigrants to vote in statewide elections, a civil rights attorney is warning.
Proposition 1, dubbed the Equal Rights Amendment, will appear before New York voters next month. The measure seeks to expand what is considered protected classes under the New York State Constitution, ensuring any such class is granted “equal protection of the laws.”
If passed, Proposition 1 will add, among other things, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes as protected classes.
New Yorkers for Equal Rights, an organization backing Proposition 1, says the measure would cement reproductive rights in the state, guaranteeing they “cannot be rolled back by out-of-touch politicians in the future.” It also argues the measure “closes loopholes” so the “most vulnerable” New Yorkers cannot be discriminated against.
However, Westchester County-based attorney Bobbie Anne Cox claims the proposition is a “Trojan horse” for a slew of other changes, including giving immigrants living in New York illegally the right to vote in statewide elections. She specifically points to the additions of ethnicity and national origin as protected classes in her argument.
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