A majority of city councilors indicated their support for a proposal that would grant voting rights to immigrants with “legal status,” but election officials said such a change could prove challenging, in terms of tracking those new voters.

The proposed home rule petition, put forward by Councilor Kendra Lara, was discussed during a Tuesday afternoon hearing, where the Council, advocates and city election officials attempted to sketch out how the potential policy change would look in Boston.

“We have people who, despite not being given a voice in their local government through the ballot, have worked, sacrificed and invested in their neighborhoods, and all people should have a say in the decisions that impact their daily lives,” Lara said.

The only relevant example of such a policy change, however, was presented by Jessie Carpenter, city clerk for Takoma Park, Maryland, which according to an October press release, marked 30 years of non-citizen voting last month.

Unlike what is being proposed in Boston, however, the right to vote in municipal elections in Takoma Park extends to all immigrants, “regardless of their legal status,” the city release states.

Still, there are only 347 non-citizen voters in that Maryland municipality, per the release, a number that would likely be much higher in Boston, which has more than 650,000 residents compared to the 17,000-plus residents who live in Takoma Park.

In Takoma Park, Carpenter said, immigrants are not asked about their legal status when they register to vote. Instead, they are simply asked for proof of identity and city residency, she said.

The Maryland city keeps two separate voter registration forms to separate the citizens who can vote in all elections versus the non-citizens who can only vote in municipal elections, Carpenter said.

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Given that there are only “hundreds” of registered non-citizens, Carpenter said she is able to keep their information organized in a simple Excel sheet. A list of people who are eligible to vote is also updated when non-citizens move, as indicated by return to sender city mail, she said.

While such a change has worked well in Takoma Park, and even inspired other Maryland municipalities to follow suit, per the city release, it could prove logistically challenging in the much larger City of Boston, according to Elections Commissioner Eneida Tavares.

She said the Boston Election Department would have to see if it had the capabilities to maintain two separate databases “without causing any confusion.”

“Our preferred method would be to use the Secretary of State’s database because it’s just one place where we can house everything,” Tavares said. “It’s easier to update voting, voter information, give voter history to voters and everything of that nature.”

Further, the city would likely not be able to keep a person’s immigration status private if their public voting information were requested for a court proceeding, she said, in response to a concern that was raised during the hearing.

Other councilors raised concerns about mistaken voting, in terms of non-citizens casting a ballot in state or federal elections when the change would only involve city elections, thereby jeopardizing their chances of attaining full citizenship.

“If they’re on a pathway to citizenship, you didn’t want a mistake to happen that would put that in jeopardy because the federal government has a big black and white all or nothing approach to these things,” City Councilor Liz Breadon said.