Sean Hannity is wrong. ‘Illegal immigrants’ cannot vote in New York City’s local elections

With one sentence, Fox News host Sean Hannity misinformed millions of viewers about voting rights in New York City.

During the Feb. 29 episode of his prime-time show "Hannity," which averages 2.36 million viewers, the host falsely claimed that immigrants in the U.S. illegally are allowed to vote in New York City elections. 

Hannity was interviewing former President Donald Trump at the U.S. southern border. During a discussion about migrants entering the country, Trump said migrants are being allowed into the U.S. because the Biden administration "maybe want(s) the votes," and that Democrats are trying to "register people right now as we speak," a claim we previously rated Pants on Fire!  

Hannity responded, "In New York City, for example, local elections, illegal immigrants can vote."

The show cut to a commercial break and let the inaccurate claim stand.

New York City passed 2021 legislation that would have allowed some immigrants to vote in municipal elections. But that law never took effect. 

We contacted Fox News for comment and did not receive a reply.

(Internet Archive)

Trump’s speculation about registering immigrants in the country illegally to vote echoes the discredited and racist "great replacement" conspiracy theory that says Democrats support increased immigration as part of a plan to replace white people with nonwhite people. Trump and other Republicans have pushed the theory in recent months.

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In 2021, New York City lawmakers approved legislation that would have allowed about 800,000 noncitizen New York residents to vote in municipal elections, if they had lived in the city for 30 days and were legal permanent residents of the U.S. or had work authorization. 

The legislation would have applied to local elections. Only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in national elections.

The New York City law was immediately challenged in court and never took effect. Nonetheless, it has been central to false claims that immigrants in the country illegally can vote in New York.

In June 2022, before the law was scheduled to take effect, a New York judge struck it down, saying the measure violated the state constitution’s provision that "every citizen" is entitled to vote. That decision was appealed.

On Feb. 21, a New York appeals court agreed with the lower court’s decision: "We determine that this local law was enacted in violation of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law, and thus, must be declared null and void." 

It is unclear whether the ruling will be appealed again. 

Some cities across the U.S. have passed legislation to allow noncitizens to vote in some municipal elections, but that practice is not widespread. 

Hannity claimed in New York City "local elections, illegal immigrants can vote."

New York City passed 2021 legislation that would have granted some noncitizens the right to vote in local elections. That law never went into effect and was declared unconstitutional by a state appeals court in February. 

We rate this claim False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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