The Portland Board of Education is poised to enter the debate over whether noncitizens who are legally present in the United States should be allowed to vote in municipal elections...

Although the resolution only supports putting the measure to voters, board Chairman Anna Trevorrow said the proposal itself has broad support among the board.

“Our resolution is supporting getting the issue out to the voters, but I think there is an implied support for the issue as well,” Trevorrow said last week.

Noncitizens, such as refugees and asylum seekers, are not allowed to vote in federal elections, but they can vote on local issues in a handful of U.S. cities. The idea has been rejected before in Portland and statewide. But earlier this year, Portland officials made noncitizens with federal work authorization eligible for its police force.

After previous Portland-led efforts failed in 2009 and 2010, Strimling put the issue back on Portland’s radar during his 2017 State of the City address, but he said the current effort is being led by Ali, an immigrant from Ghana...

Trevorrow is hoping Portland voters have evolved in their thinking, although she believes many residents still consider voting a right that comes with being a U.S. citizen. She expects a more organized campaign this time around, should the proposal make it to the ballot.

“The campaign only really gained steam towards the end of the election season,” she said of the 2010 effort. “There was a feeling coming out of that, if we had started earlier and gained more momentum, things could have moved forward in a different direction because it was so close.”

The local referendum was launched through a citizen initiative after the Maine Legislature killed a similar proposal statewide the prior year...

 

The Portland Board of Education voted 4-3 to endorse a resolution urging the City Council to schedule a referendum asking city residents to extend voting rights to non-citizens who are here legally, such as asylum seekers and refugees...

Board Chairwoman Anna Trevorrow said she supports the resolution, because 20 percent to 30 percent of public school students come from immigrant families. Many of their parents cannot vote.

“This is about standing with our parents and standing with our community,” Trevorrow said. “That’s the statement we are making to the council.” ...