April 16, 2005 - Immigrant advocates yesterday rallied to back a measure that would allow noncitizens to vote, but it was opposed by Mayor Bloomberg while the only Democratic mayoral candidate to back it was Virginia Fields.

"Ultimately, we want all those who are legal to be able to vote. It's the democratic way. They pay their taxes," said Councilman Bill Perkins, who plans to introduce legislation next week that would permit noncitizens to cast ballots in municipal contests.

Ron Hayduk, a social science professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College, said the legislation is a "huge step in realizing the promise of democracy, which is everyone who is a member of that community will have a say in how the rules are made. The essence of democracy is inclusion..."

Whenever the topic's about non-citizen voting, you can be sure that some airhead reporter somewhere is busy speed dialing community college professor Ron Hayduk.

See his quotes in 2004's "Purging illegal aliens from voter rolls not easy" and "Immigrant Voters Could Change Election Landscapes".