Should noncitizens be allowed to financially support ballot initiatives. Ohio said no, but federal judge disagreed in a recent ruling.

From The Epoch Times. U.S. District Judge Michael Watson has blocked an Ohio law that was set to take effect on Sept. 1, finding that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

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Ohio legislators in an act signed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over the summer prohibited foreign nationals from spending money on ballot campaigns, an extension of a law that already barred them from contributing to political candidates. Nonprofits and several individuals, including noncitizens, sued to try to stop the law from taking effect.

The plaintiffs said the law violated their rights under the First Amendment. Unless enjoined, they wrote in a request for a preliminary injunction, the law “will broadly chill discussion of ballot issues and impede the fundamental right to advocate collectively, threatening both noncitizens and those who associate with them with substantial criminal penalties.” …

The judge noted that lawful permanent residents, who were born in another country but are in the United States legally, pay taxes and can serve in the military.

“Where is the danger of people beholden to foreign interests higher than in the U.S. military? Nowhere,” he wrote in a 53-page ruling. “So, if the U.S. federal government trusts (such residents) to put U.S. interests first in the military (of all places), how could this court hold that it does not trust them to promote U.S. interests in their political spending? It cannot.”

The ruling blocked the law’s provisions on political spending, preventing Ohio officials from enforcing it against any person who contributes money for ballot measures. …

What do you think of this law and the judge’s ruling? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA/Pexels)