{"id":332213,"date":"2026-05-07T13:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/karen-bass-refuses-to-give-yes-or-no-answer-on-whether-noncitizens-should-vote-in-la-it-depends.html"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:13:12","slug":"karen-bass-refuses-to-give-yes-or-no-answer-on-whether-noncitizens-should-vote-in-la-it-depends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/karen-bass-refuses-to-give-yes-or-no-answer-on-whether-noncitizens-should-vote-in-la-it-depends.html","title":{"rendered":"Karen Bass refuses to give &#8216;yes or no&#8217; answer on whether noncitizens should vote in LA: &#8216;It depends&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/eb503ae9_image.jpg\" alt=\"LA mayor candidates split on noncitizen voting as Bass says 'it depends'\" width=\"896\" height=\"500\" data-v-324c3b57=\"\" \/> <span class=\"overlay\" data-v-324c3b57=\"\">Video<\/span><\/a> <!--&gt; \n\n<h4 class=\"title\" data-v-324c3b57=\"\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">LA mayor candidates split on noncitizen voting as Bass says 'it depends'<\/a><\/h4>\n\n \n\n<p data-v-324c3b57=\"\">LA mayoral candidates split on noncitizen voting, with one opposing it outright while Mayor Karen Bass and another candidate said it depends on the proposal. (NBC4 and Telemundo)<\/p>\n\n \n\n<p class=\"speakable\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Los Angeles<\/a> mayoral candidates clashed Wednesday night when a simple yes-or-no question on whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote in local elections exposed a sharp divide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"speakable\">During a debate hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo, moderator Enrique Chiabra pressed candidates for a yes-or-no answer. Democrat <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Mayor Karen Bass<\/a> declined to do so, while Republican challenger Spencer Pratt responded flatly, \"No.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bass instead said, \"It depends,\" adding, \"It's not a yes or no.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exchange comes as a Los Angeles city councilmember has renewed debate on the issue and is pushing to put the question before voters on the November ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>FORMER REALITY TV PERSONALITY SPENCER PRATT LASHES OUT AT LA MAYOR KAREN BASS OVER 'INSANE, PSYCHO' COMMENTS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/c40d3cc0_5c00c369-spencer-pratt-karen-bass.png\" alt=\"karen bass and spencer pratt\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/> \n\n<p><span>Former reality television star Spencer Pratt is running against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to lead the second-largest city in the country.<\/span> <span>(Roy Rochlin\/Getty Images | Ronaldo Bola\u00f1os \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While federal law bars noncitizens from <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">voting<\/a> in federal elections, some U.S. cities \u2014 including a few in California \u2014 allow limited forms of noncitizen voting in local races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When explaining her answer, Bass said the term \"noncitizens\" can include legal residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Well, first of all, when you say noncitizens, it doesn't mean they're here illegally. It doesn't mean they're undocumented. They can have <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">green cards<\/a>. They could be here perfectly legal,\" Bass said. \"And there's a lot of states and cities that do that on very, very local elections. We have to see what the councilman is proposing.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>SPENCER PRATT'S LA MAYORAL CAMPAIGN VIDEO DRAWS JOHN WICK COMPARISONS AS FANS RALLY BEHIND HIM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/4a6c2e77_los-angeles-hotels-struggling-due-to-minimum-wage-mandate-karen-bass.jpeg\" alt=\"Hotels in Los Angeles California with city skyline in background\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/> \n\n<p><span>Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said \"it depends\" when asked whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote in local elections.<\/span> <span>(Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Councilwoman Nithya Raman<\/a>, also a Democratic candidate, similarly avoided a direct answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"I would say again, it does depend,\" Raman said, noting that in some places, noncitizen residents can vote in certain local elections, such as school board races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pratt, who was first to respond, reiterated his position with a one-word answer: \"No.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bass and Pratt are among <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">13 candidates running for mayor<\/a>, with Pratt viewed as one of the leading challengers to the incumbent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/2c8239c0_spencer-pratt-fox-and-friends-2026.jpg\" alt=\"Spencer Pratt wearing a blue suit visiting Fox  Friends studio in New York City\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/> \n\n<p><span>TV personality and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt visits \"Fox  Friends\" at Fox News Channel Studios in New York City on Jan. 28, 2026.<\/span> <span>(Roy Rochlin\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The primary is scheduled for June 2, with the general election set for Nov. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass\u2019 office, as well as the Pratt and Raman campaigns, for comment.<\/p>\n\n --> <!--&gt; \n\n<p><i>Michael Sinkewicz is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><i>michael.sinkewicz@fox.com<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n<p>Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/karen-bass-refuses-give-yes-no-answer-whether-noncitizens-should-vote-la-it-depends<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/karen-bass-refuses-give-yes-no-answer-whether-noncitizens-should-vote-la-it-depends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-332213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}