UPDATED: Connecticut Mayor Wants Illegal Aliens To Be Able To Vote

The Mayor of New Haven, CT has announced that he hopes to ask the state legislators to allow illegal aliens in his city to be granted the right to vote.

Why is John DeStefano Jr. pressing for a change in the law that would allow people living illegally in the country (and his city) to vote?

He says “to build a more engaged participatory community”

The New Haven Register reports that the change to the law could bring a substantial pool of new voters to DeStefano's camp. The paper estimates as many as 12,000 undocumented people are living in the New Haven area.

That begs the question: Is there another motive besides building "a more engaged participatory community" behind DeStephano's idea? Possibly.

Just last month Mr. DeStefano was re-elected to a record 10th term as mayor of New Haven, but the margin of victory was not that large. Of the estimated 64,000 registered voters in the city, fewer than 15,000 participated in the last election.  Adding a potential pool of 10-12,000 new voters could make certain that DeStefano doesn't face such a problem in the future.

The paper also reports that DeStefano's point of view includes this statement:

“If you live here, you pay taxes here and send your kids to school here, you should be able to vote.”

Curiously, the Mayor equates paying rent (living here) to paying taxes, and therefore that justifies the right of a person to vote -- no matter their citizenship status.

Changing the law would require the State legislature stepping in and permitting illegals access to the voting booths in local elections.  Since the Connecticut lawmakers are not in session until February of 2012, the topic will only be debated in the public until the House returns.

New Haven is no stranger to controversial moves supporting illegals. In 2007, the city set up a program that provided municipal ID cards for illegals, allowing them to have access to banking and public libraries.

The Blaze has reached out to both Mayor DeStefano and Connecticut House Speaker Christopher Donovan for comment. Both offices are considering our requests, but did not respond by publication time.

UPDATE: While the Mayor himself did not respond to our call, his press people did speak with The Blaze and offered little additional information.

Mayor DeStephano did find time to speak with local media.

DeStefano wants voting rights for illegal residents: wtnh.com

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