Even without legislation to let noncitizens vote in local elections, fully three in 10 New Yorkers who go to the polls on Tuesday are likely to have been born abroad.
That projection is considered a modern high for the city, given the influx of foreigners beginning in the 1990s and the time that has elapsed in which they could become eligible as naturalized citizens to cast their ballots in municipal elections.
An analysis by John H. Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, found that New York has more foreign-born voters than any other big city, both in raw numbers and as a share of the total electorate.
In the 2012 presidential election, New York City had more than twice as many immigrant voters (about 892,000) as Los Angeles (311,000) with Chicago (84,000) and Miami (55,000) trailing. Its 30 percent was the highest share, according to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
The foreign-born voters, Professor Mollenkopf said, “are quite diverse, just like the native born electorate, and do not vote as a bloc.â€
“The Dominicans resemble the Puerto Ricans, the West Indians the African-Americans, etc.†he said. “They may be a touch more conservative than their native-born minority counterparts, but with some exceptions â€" the Russians â€" they are no fans of the Republicans.â€
At least six of the 51 current members of the City Council were born abroad. That number may increase after Tuesday’s vote.
The last New York mayor born outside the United States was Abraham D. Beame, in 1973. Since the mid-19th century, so were William O’Dwyer and Vincent R. Impellitteri.
