In a first, noncitizens are voting in D.C. Here’s what it means to them.

The voters include 310 who registered as Democrat, 169 independent, 28 Republican and 16 Statehood Green, said Sarah Graham, a spokesperson for the D.C. Board of Elections.

In this city, which has no voting representative in Congress, leaders have expanded voting rights to noncitizen residents. Noncitizens are eligible to vote if they are at least 18 years old as of Election Day, have been a D.C. resident for at least 30 days before the election, have not been deemed by a court legally incompetent to vote and are not claiming the right to vote in any state, territory or country.

There has been opposition, with critics arguing that the right to vote should be reserved for American citizens. The U.S. House advanced a bill last month to block noncitizen voting in D.C., though it’s unlikely this bill would move forward in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Workers for the D.C. Board of Elections have also been fielding angry messages from callers opposed to noncitizen voting, said Monica Evans, the office’s executive director.

The noise lawmakers are making in Congress simply spreads more awareness that this new right for noncitizens exists, said Abel Amene, an Ethiopian immigrant who last year became the first noncitizen to hold public office in D.C. and who fought for the noncitizen vote. Abel, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 4 — who prefers that people call him by his first name because of cultural naming practices — is excited to see how voting will empower noncitizens to participate in local democracy and make their voices heard.

“It’s only one, [or a] few buttons to press,” Abel said, “but it will have huge impacts moving forward.”

Noncitizen voters shared with The Washington Post what the right to cast a ballot means for them.

Ana Lemus, 42, came to the District about 15 years ago to escape from a bad relationship and pervasive gang violence in El Salvador.

Before leaving her home country, she made a point of exercising her right to vote.

“It’s my duty,” she said in Spanish while her 19-year-old daughter, Genesis, interpreted. In El Salvador, even when her husband interrogated her about where she was going and discouraged her from voting, Ana still got ready and marched out of the house to the polls. “My vote is my vote.”

Now, Ana will cast her vote again in D.C. elections, along with Genesis, who was 4 years old when she arrived in the United States. Both registered to vote earlier this year.

Genesis said her top priorities in this election are “the cost of living skyrocketing, gender inequality, wealth inequality, and police brutality.” And Genesis, a leader in local advocacy for street vendors, isn’t satisfied with just being a voter. Her dream, she said, “is to one day maybe run, later on in my 20s, for [advisory neighborhood commissioner] first, maybe council member after.”

Shaghayegh ‘Chris’ Rostampour

A few months ago, Shaghayegh “Chris” Rostampour was researching immigrant voting rights and came across the District’s legislation allowing noncitizens to vote. Rostampour looked at the eligibility criteria and realized they qualified.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is what democracy is like, this is what participatory democracy and direct participation is like, and this is what an inclusive society should be like,’” said Rostampour, a 34-year-old resident of D.C.’s Ward 2. “So I was very thrilled about it. And it made me even happier to live where I live.”

Last weekend at the West End library, Rostampour voted for the first time since the 2017 presidential election in Iran, their home country. Rostampour declined to share whom they voted for but said they were most concerned about issues related to the lack of affordable housing, the high cost of living, pollution and environmental concerns.

“The very act of voting and feeling like I can have a small impact and I can make a decision, it made me feel very empowered,” they said. “It made me feel like I had a voice.”

Rostampour came to the United States on a student visa in 2018 to study conflict resolution at Brandeis University before moving to the District in 2022 to work at an arms-control nonprofit. They have become involved in political activism with peace organizations and submitted their green card application a few months ago.

Rostampour was raised to believe that voting was a civic duty and has been troubled by House lawmakers’ efforts to block the noncitizen vote and language suggesting noncitizens are trying to “interfere” with local elections. And Rostampour is concerned on behalf of immigrants who worry that voting could jeopardize their status in this country.

“There’s a lot of fear to participate, just because people are worried about the consequences,” they said. “All of this is legal, all of this is allowed, but we are still worried about how it might impact us.”

Soledad Miranda has lived in the United States for decades and is used to working hard to support her family and advocating for her rights.

Miranda, a 49-year-old Ward 1 resident from El Salvador, spends weekdays as a cleaner in the Wilson Building, which houses the offices of the city’s mayor and council members. In the evenings and on weekends, she is a street vendor selling traditional clothing from her home country.

As a shop steward for her union — Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, which represents workers who help maintain about 1,500 office buildings in the region — Miranda was chosen by her colleagues to interview D.C. Council candidates to help the union make its endorsements.

What she wanted to know most was how candidates would improve access to housing and health care. Miranda said she often runs into council members and candidates in the lobby or hallways of the Wilson Building and takes note of how they treat her and others.

Although she did not want to share whom she planned to vote for, her union endorsed Ward 4 council member Janeese Lewis George and Wendell Felder, the former chair of the Ward 7 Democrats who is running for the council seat in that ward. When Miranda casts her ballot, she said, she will look to candidates who support immigrants and policies such as “temporary protected status,” which she said is the reason she can stay in the country, obtain a driver’s license and get her cosmetology license. And she will be thinking of her 14-year-old daughter and her future.

“I’ve lived in this country for 30 years. I have my daughter who is a U.S. citizen, I pay my taxes, I feel like I have the right to vote,” Miranda said through a translator. “I feel excited. I’ll have an opportunity to cast my vote — not just me, but other people who came here as immigrants and don’t need U.S. citizenship to vote.”

Germán Trinidad, 39, has long been active in local politics. Trinidad, who came to D.C. from El Salvador in 2002, has supported efforts to decriminalize street vending and create a pathway for street vendors to get licensed. He and his wife sell hot food and beverages on the street in Mount Pleasant.

On Tuesday, he will vote in D.C. elections.

“I’m very happy that they’re taking me into account,” he said through a translator. He wants better infrastructure in the District, and he’s concerned about crime. “[It’s] a big issue, especially because we are vendors and we are outside, so obviously that’s a priority.”

He’s proud of the progress street vendors have made in recent years in “being able to sell products peacefully in the city.” For future elections, he hopes for a stronger slate of candidates — “better choices, people who will make our future better.”

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Abel Amene, who is pursuing a double degree in physics and economics at the University of Maryland, said he is always on the brink of homelessness and sees other immigrants struggling, too. But he had never voted in D.C. and was unable to have a say about how elected leaders address housing or any other issue — until now in this primary.

“Almost every political decision I make, the fear I face of possibly becoming homeless, again, is always front of mind,” said Abel, 38, who came to the United States from Ethiopia as a teenager in 1999. “There’s a real impact that these politicians and these elected officials have on my safety and how secure I feel at home.”

In late May, he went to the West End library and voted for the first time in any government election. And although his views as a socialist don’t perfectly align with those of council members Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) and Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), he voted for them because of their positions on housing.

“I’m now 38 years old, and this is the first time I ever cast a ballot in a government election. It was amazing,” he said. “It felt very impactful, like I had a say in something bigger than me.”