A deep-blue city in a very blue state is now facing a lawsuit after allowing non-citizens to cast ballots in local elections.

A voting rights organization, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), filed its suit against the city of Burlington, Vermont, for allowing noncitizens to vote in local city or Burlington School District elections. The lawsuit alleges that in doing so, the city violated “voter’s qualifications” enshrined in the Vermont State Constitution.

“Activists are working overtime to undermine democracy in Vermont by extending the right to vote to noncitizens,” Derek Lyons, President of RITE, noted in a press release, as reported by the Daily Caller. “This anti-democratic agenda is progressing at an alarming pace.”

The annual education budget for the city is funded through the State Education Fund, which is created by the Board of School Commissioners using tax dollars. By allowing noncitizens to vote to elect school commissioners, they now “have the power to affect financial decisions that have implications for all Vermont taxpayers,” RITE claimed in the lawsuit. “Permitting noncitizens to vote on these issues violates the Vermont Constitution,” the lawsuit states.

In November 2018, Montpelier approved a provision allowing noncitizens to vote in specific local elections. Similarly, in November 2020, Winooski passed a measure enabling noncitizens to vote in all city elections. In May 2021, the Vermont General Assembly approved the Montpelier and Winooski amendments. Republican Governor Phil Scott vetoed them the following month, but the General Assembly overrode the vetoes, ultimately approving the amendments.

“The non-citizen voting movement achieves the left’s goal of legalizing foreign interference in American elections,” Lyons said in the press release. “It threatens the rule of law and must be stopped before it further infects Vermont and other states in this country.