Voters in eight states approved ballot measures that explicitly prohibit noncitizens from voting in elections.
The constitutional amendments were passed in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Six other states enacted similar ballot measures between 2018 and 2022, according to Ballotpedia.
Noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in federal and state elections.
Takoma Park, Md., in 1992 became the first U.S. city to open local elections to noncitizens. Since then, other municipalities in Maryland, California and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia, have made exceptions in either local or school board elections. A New York City law allowing noncitizens who are lawfully in the country to vote was found unconstitutional earlier this year, although that decision is under appeal.
Supporters of constitutional bans point to those handful of examples to make the case for a blanket prohibition. Opponents counter that the measures are unnecessary and redundant.
This year’s constitutional amendments were all placed on the ballot by Republican-led legislatures. The group Americans for Citizen Voting is a key promoter of the effort, arguing that states should act to close off any avenue to noncitizen voting.
“It’s not like it’s happening everywhere and it must be stopped immediately. But preemption is not a bad thing,” said Jack Tomczak, the group’s vice president.
The constitutional amendments make explicit that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections.
Backers say the change, often just one word in a state constitution, ensures that local elections cannot be opened to noncitizens. Critics say the constitutional amendments do not change the status quo and are a solution in search of a problem.
“They also create their own problem: fostering the false claim that noncitizen voting is happening,” Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky law professor, wrote in a column for Washington Monthly. “Perhaps, instead of chasing the boogeyman of noncitizen voting, our elected leaders should focus on improving turnout among the U.S. citizens who routinely do not vote.”
Douglas notes that it would take an act of the legislature in most states to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. Tomczak, in a pre-election post on X, said that is the point: State constitutions should preclude lawmakers from acting.
Efforts to pass noncitizen voting constitutional amendments have been gaining momentum amid false narratives spread by former President Donald Trump and his supporters that noncitizen voting is widespread.
Voters in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio previously approved noncitizen voting bans. With eight more joining them this year, supporters may be emboldened to expand their effort into more states in the next election.