To the editor:

Earlier this month, State Reps. Enrique Sanchez, David Morales, Jennifer Stewart, Joshua Giraldo, Brianna Henries and Karen Alzate introduced a real humdinger of a partisan bill, H5461, by which “any city or town may, by ordinance, allow all residents of the municipality to vote in municipal elections for municipal officeholders regardless of the immigration status of the residents.” From this, I gather that it’s not “foreign interference” if coyotes smuggle new voters into your district.

For readers unfamiliar with these lawmakers, many of them are young; all of them are Democrats and members of the “Black and Latino Caucus,” which means it’s racist if their bill dies. Rep. Giraldo previously sponsored a bill—with Rep. June Speakman—to make annual “cultural competency training” mandatory for state employees. Rep. Alzate sponsored a bill—with Giraldo—that grants driving privileges to illegals and goes into effect this July. (Special thanks to Reps. Susan Donovan, June Speakman and self-avowed “strong-border Democrat” Jason Knight for voting yea on that lemon.)

Motor voter, anyone?

Given their record, I’m surprised Sanchez y amigos want to violate the state constitution only by enfranchising “residents.” Obviously, if there’s anybody who deserves a say in our municipal affairs, it’s illegals who have violated federal law to work here and then send the money back home. Or perhaps the state’s Democrat supermajority is just too white! That said, it’s awfully myopic to enfranchise “residents” when the concept of “residency” relies upon borders—those limits within which a resident resides.

Let’s think big! Let’s have votes without borders!

RI is not a place on the map; it’s an idea, a lively experiment, an economic platform. In this redundantly named “global world” everybody worldwide has a stake in what goes on in our backyards: Is it fair for Dieguito to sweat long hours in a Newport back kitchen if Juanita in Mexicali, dependent upon his remitted income, can’t vote from home to raise RI’s minimum wage? Before deciding where to stick a Confucius Institute, shouldn’t Beijingers have a voice in how our schools are zoned? Mightn’t Kievites determine for themselves what limits, if any, apply to nonprofits like Friends of Ukraine RI?

In our post-pandemic, work-from-home, mail-ballot world, it’s entirely feasible to extend franchise in RI’s state and municipal elections, digitally, to a majority of the globe (64% of the world’s population is online). I call it “Remote the Vote.” Granted the processing-time for some 5 billion ballots may be lengthy—even for capable Dominion voting machines—but vote counts drag on for several weeks now anyway. Moreover, in solid blue RI, votes can be counted well past officeholders’ term limits without impeding the peaceful stagnation of power.

Although I realize such direct access to our political process upends the ability of congressmen and senators in D.C. to enrich themselves by selling us out to foreign powers, it would nevertheless kill off the white supremacist relic of “citizenship” much faster than Rep. Sanchez’s bill.

Zachary Cooper
48A Sherman Ave