But last year, the immigrant voting rights campaign began working again to gain support before bringing the issue to city council.

In June of last year, the Cambridge school committee voted 5-2 in favor of immigrant voting rights.

The City Council's government ordinance committee will now review a written proposal before sending it to the entire council later this week. The council will then decide whether to send the proposal to the state legislature.

The Argument

The campaign touches upon some volatile issues--parenthood, democracy and immigration--the debate in Cambridge has been fierce.

Voting rights campaign organizer Natalie Smith, an immigrant from England whose 9-year-old daughter attends public school in Cambridge, says she sees the current policy as an injustice to both her and her child.

"I pay taxes for my child's representation, which she does not get," she says. "I care very much about who is on the school committee. I need to know that there are people on the committee who know who my child is and what her world is like."

Smith says it is "painful" to watch her child grow and go from grade to grade without being able to participate fully in her daughter's education.