Why should someone in Florida be so concerned about the mayor of Los Angeles? So many people outside of Los Angeles seem to have an interest in the mayoral elections. When I lived in Pasadena, Altadena or Orange County, I wasn’t that concerned with the mayoral race in Los Angeles or even my hometown, but plenty of people are ready to weigh in including this person from Florida.

Florida, is different from California and Los Angeles is different from Tampa.  The cost of living is lower and salaries are also lower. There is no state income tax. Los Angeles has about 3.8 million residents while Tampa has only 400,000. LA is the second largest city in the US. Tampa is the 49th. LA city is about 469 square miles while Tampa is about 113 square miles.

Why is this person so concerned that the current mayor of LA is looking into the possibility of non-citizens voting?

There are laws that permit non-citizens to vote in the US. While non-citizens cannot vote in federal elections, Bass isn’t talking about federal elections.

In California, certain jurisdictions allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. Voters approved such measures in Oakland and San Francisco for school boards

These cities are not alone. The District of Columbia passed a non-citizen vote Act (2022) for local elections. Of course, DC is not a state. There are several municipalities in Maryland  that allow non-citizens to vote as of May 2026: Barnesville, Brentwood, Cheverly, Chevy Chase, Colmar Manor, Edmonston, Frederick, Garrett Park, Glen Echo, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Martin’s Additions, Mount Rainier, Riverdale Park, Somerset and Tacoma Park.

According to ForumTogether.org, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland was the first municipality in the US “to restore noncitizen voting in local elections” and that was in 1992.

In Vermont, three municipalities allow non-citizens to vote: Burlington, Montpelier and Winooski.

Who can vote and what they can vote for differs.

There are, however, 18 states where the language of the state constitutions prohibits non-citizens from voting and Florida is one of those states. California is not. There are states who have measures related to non-citizen voting on the 2026 ballot.

There is a council member, Hugo Soto-Martinez who wants to explore the possibility of noncitizens voting in future city elections. According to ABC Eyewitness News:

“We have folks living in this country who have been here 20 years,” he said. “They started a family, they pay their taxes, many of them are homeowners, but they don’t have a say over the policies that affect their children and families on any given day.”

Yet Soto-Martinez himself admits this is a proposal that would be years away from any move toward charter change. Noncitizens voting is not a Los Angeles thing now. It is not a novel concept in California or in the US. The post by this Florida person isn’t the only one I’ve seen. Most mislead people or depend upon ignorance.

Why this issue and why Karen Bass should become a major point to people from other California cities or people from other states seems odd. I don’t really care who becomes mayor of Tampa but it was nice to learn that different cities and states handle elections differently.