Professor says right to vote in U.S. ‘has never been intrinsically tied to citizenship’

Extending voting rights to non-citizens is a hot topic from Burlington, Vt.,  to New York City to San Francisco.

Supporters say allowing non-citizens to vote would give members of the community, including large numbers who pay taxes and own property, a voice in local political affairs.

Opponents argue that extending voting privileges to immigrants would demean the value of citizenship and effectively disenfranchise legitimate citizen voters by diluting their vote.

Ron Hayduk, a political science professor at Queens College, City University of New York,  supported expanding voting rights in a commentary "Noncitizens voting? It’s only fair," published Jan. 1, 2015, in The Providence Journal.