Taxation without representation is as anti-American as it gets. By this thinking, allowing noncitizens to vote in their local referendums seems fair, as anyone who lives and pays taxes in a community should have their voice heard.

A bill before Maine lawmakers would do this, under this rationale. Yet while the concept is fair, the practice is flawed. Voting is an American birthright, admittedly, but it is also a crucial part of the rite of citizenship for immigrants and others who choose to live in America.

Viewing the lack of opportunity of noncitizens to vote as exclusionary is backward; rather, the ability to vote is a fundamental incentive to pursue citizenship, as is the vast intrinsic pride that can come from becoming a formal citizen of an adopted homeland.

These latter stories are everywhere. For immigrants, the certification of American citizenship is the culmination of a life’s journey. We’ve experienced it here among Lewiston-Auburn’s Somali community – the day of citizenship is remembered and often celebrated like a birthday by those who’ve achieved it.

On a broader scale, there are fewer purely American stories than earning citizenship. Before his off-field lunacy wrecked his reputation in New England, a charming memory of Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez was his tearing across the deep-green, sunlit grass of Fenway Park, carrying a small, fluttering American flag to mark the occasion of becoming a citizen.

It tugged at our heartstrings, and makes us leery of changing any part of citizenship. There are some truths to be held self-evident; that citizenship should be a goal for all residents of the United States is one them. Eroding incentives, such as voting, would be contradictory.

There are opportunities for all residents of a community, citizen or not, to participate in the democratic process. That voting is reserved for citizens is not disenfranchising, as the other parts of the process are arguably just as important as showing up to vote.

What could be disenfranchising, though, is creating two levels of voting – one for citizens and one for noncitizens. How unfair is saying that one person can vote on local matters only, but not on state or national issues? If we are to give a voice to voters, they should be heard all the way to Washington. This is the country where all are created equal, after all.

Not where some are more equal than others.

Protectionist and prejudicial sentiments will undoubtedly chase this bill. Yet this is not an issue of immigration or race. This is a matter of smart civics and American history, and staying true to the intentions of the founders and core principles of the country.

Voting is a rite of citizenship. Citizenship should be encouraged for all. Voters should not be segregated. It’s as simple as that, and should stay that way.