The New York City Council took a radical move last December when it passed a local ordinance that allowed resident aliens to vote in New York City municipal elections. RedState covered that decision here, New York City Giving Non-Citizens the Right to Vote, and here, Democrats Show Their Desperation Through Their Attempts to Make Elections Less Secure.

Voting by non-citizens is a departure from the idea of voting as understood anywhere in the world. The notion that resident aliens should be allowed to vote simply by virtue of living somewhere is so bizarre that only a progressive sh**hole like New York City (or San Francisco or Los Angeles…you get the picture) could have inflicted it on hapless inhabitants. Nevertheless, the idea was so popular that mayoral candidate Eric Adams pimped it while campaigning, only to refuse to sign it when he was eventually elected mayor.

It is difficult to describe a more blatant assault on voting integrity outside of the usual shenanigans in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee. No one vaguely familiar with the Democrat machine in New York City believes for a second that only resident aliens would be registered. It was a sure bet that illegals would also end up registered to vote.

Corrupting the voter rolls is not trivial. Once the voting poll book is salted with the names of people not allowed to vote, be they felons or non-residents, or non-citizens, it corrupts the outcome of all elections from that jurisdiction. If the voting data corrupted is from something as large as New York City, then the results of the entire state of New York are open to question.

Several Republican politicians sued to stop this travesty, and they have won their initial battle.

A law that would have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections in New York City was struck down by a State Supreme Court justice in Staten Island who said it violated the State Constitution.

The measure, which was passed by the City Council in December, would have allowed more than 800,000 green card holders or permanent legal residents to vote for offices such as mayor and City Council.

But Justice Ralph J. Porzio ruled on Monday that the new law conflicted with constitutional guidelines that only eligible citizens can vote. To give noncitizens a right to vote would require a referendum, the judge wrote.

The law was not set to go into effect until January of next year, and the ruling will have no effect on Tuesday’s primary election in New York.

Just some notes to put this in perspective. Don’t be fooled by the “State Supreme Court” title. That is the lowest level of court in New York. There are two levels above it, with the highest being the Court of Appeals. (Something good can come of watching Law & Order, as hard as that may be to believe.) This is the first time a judge has ruled on this lawsuit. There is plenty of time for mischief.

“Today’s decision validates those of us who can read the plain English words of our State Constitution and State statutes,” said Joseph Borelli, a Republican councilman from Staten Island who was one of the plaintiffs. “Noncitizen voting in New York is illegal.”

Sadly, Mr. Borelli seems to think he resides in a state governed by the rule of law. If that were the case, this law would never have been passed. But he doesn’t, and there is no reason to believe judges in higher courts will be loyal to the law and not to their political masters. The strongest hope for beating this travesty is for Mayor Adams to decide that it costs too much of his shrinking stock of political capital to defend an indefensible law.