n a rare moment of clarity during the Los Angeles mayoral debate, challenger Spencer Pratt delivered a straightforward answer that cut through the usual political doubletalk. When moderators asked the simple yes-or-no question—should noncitizens be allowed to vote in local elections—Pratt didn’t hesitate.“No.”Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, however, squirmed and launched into excuses. Bass led off with classic evasion: “It depends. It’s not a yes or no.”She continued, “Well first of all when you say non-citizens it doesn’t mean they’re here illegal. It doesn’t mean they’re undocumented. They could have green cards, they could be here perfectly legal and there’s a lot of states and cities that do that on very very local elections. We have to see what the councilman is proposing.”Raman piled on similarly: “Yeah I would say again it it does depend in other places school boards have non-citizens…”This exchange stems from LA City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez’s push to put a charter amendment on the ballot that would let noncitizens—including green card holders and potentially others—vote in municipal races for mayor, City Council, and school board.Conservatives have long warned that eroding citizenship requirements for voting is a direct threat to American sovereignty. Voting is a right and duty reserved for citizens who pledge allegiance to this country—not a participation trophy for anyone who happens to reside here, legally or otherwise. Diluting the citizen vote hands power to politicians who prioritize open borders and imported dependency over the interests of actual Americans struggling with crime, homelessness, and skyrocketing costs in failing sanctuary cities like LA.Pratt’s blunt “No” stands in stark contrast to the status quo crowd’s waffling. While Bass and Raman hem and haw about “very local” elections and legal immigrants, everyday Angelenos see the bigger picture: citizenship matters, borders matter, and elections must belong to Americans only. Anything less invites fraud, weakens democracy, and accelerates the replacement of the American electorate.
