PORTLAND — A Portland measure to give legal residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections has been defeated.
With all 11 precincts reporting, the measure got 8,784 yes votes, and 9,325 no votes.
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10:13 p.m.
PORTLAND — A Portland measure to give legal residents who are not U.S. citizens the right to vote in local elections was
too close to call with 10 of 11 precincts reporting.
No votes were 8,448 compared to 8,082 yes votes. Absentee ballots had yet to be counted.
Supporters say noncitizens hold down jobs, pay taxes, own businesses, volunteer in the community and serve in the military, so they should be allowed to vote. San Francisco and Chicago are among the places that have loosened the rules or are considering it.
Opponents say immigrants already have an avenue to cast ballots by becoming citizens. They say allowing noncitizens to vote dilutes the meaning of citizenship and could lead to fraud or skew elections.
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