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The walk down Roosevelt Avenue brought the voice of Dominicans in Queens to the ballots of their native country.
P.S. 19 on Roosevelt Avenue was among three polling sites in Queens and 16 citywide where American citizens of Dominican decent were able to vote in a presidential election in their native country.

The winner of the May 16 election was Dominican Liberation Party candidate Leonel Fernandez (56.5 percent), who defeated the incumbent President Hipolito Mejia (34 percent) and Social Reformist Christian Party candidate (8.7 percent) according to published reports.

Fernandez will take office in mid-August, according to published reports.

This election was the first to use the 1997 Dominican law extending the right to Dominican New Yorkers, according to published reports.

But the issue of opening polls to non-citizens is not foreign to New York City.

A bill to do just that is currently floating in the City Council, and will be the topic of several community forums this summer, said Cheryl Wertz of the advocacy group, New Immigrants Community Empowerment (NICE).

Wertz said there is no federal requirement as to who is allowed to vote, calling it a state controlled issue.

She added that a citizenship “as a voting requirement came in at the exact same time as poll tax and reading requirements” which were used to “disenfranchise particular communities.”

“Only since 1922 has [voting requirements] been uniformed. At this country’s founding, white land owning male immigrants were allowed to vote…and women and people of color were not,” said Wertz.

The most common argument against the proposal is that “the essence of voting is citizenship. Why else would people want to become citizens?” said Wertz.

Responding to that position, which has stifled her group’s efforts so far, Wertz said, “It’s not about citizenship, it’s about controlling the process and [determining] who has a voice. That’ the essence of voting…

Of the 1.3 million non-citizens residing in the City, Wertz said, “It’s about making sure they have a voice in their own city.”

For upcoming events on this issue, visit www.immigrantvoting.org, and www.nynice.org.