Eight states to vote on amendments to ban noncitizen voting

Nationwide, state law already prevents noncitizens from voting in state and local elections. But that isn’t stopping several states from putting bans on the ballot anyway this November.

Voters in eight states—Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin—will vote on constitutional amendments that, if successful, will add language to their state constitutions explicitly banning noncitizens from voting. 

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, as do seven states: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio.

But noncitizen voting is a centerpiece of the Republican Party’s 2024 messaging. The eight state constitution amendments on the ballot were largely pushed by Republicans, who have cited an influx of immigrants in recent years at the U.S.-Mexico border and worried that they might try to vote. 

At the federal level, the GOP House tried to get the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act passed. The effort, which would have required proof of citizenship to register to vote, failed.

Rather than make wholesale changes to state constitutions, the eight ballot initiatives appear to be focused on strengthening the existing language around who can vote. 

For example, North Carolina would amend its constitution to say, “Only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age” can vote. That language would replace what is currently there, “Every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized.”

Oklahoma, too, would tweak a few words in its constitution to say that “only citizens” can vote, as opposed to the existing language, which says that “all citizens” can vote. The state already notes that noncitizens are ineligible to vote under its constitution. 

Idaho’s is notable as it would add a new sentence to its state constitution: “No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be a qualified elector in any election held within the state of Idaho.” 

Gov. Brad Little was the first to issue an executive order to prevent noncitizens from voting in July. In it, Little directed Secretary of State Phil McGrane to ensure voter registration validation is in place, that the state’s voter rolls be routinely reviewed and coordinate with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to verify citizenship status and ensure noncitizens are not voting.

Little said the action was necessary to “make sure Idaho's elections do not fall prey to the consequences of [President Joe] Biden's lawless open border.” McGrane said while the state has “excellent mechanisms in place already … there is always more we can do to make sure only citizens will vote.”

A lawsuit over Missouri’s ballot language highlighted some of the issues with these initiatives, however. Two voters, one from St. Louis and another from Webster Groves, sued to stop the amendment, alleging that the proposed language for the constitution and a 50-word summary were imprecise in how they referred to the legality of noncitizen voting and left out that the practice is illegal in the state.

At a trial earlier this year, attorneys for state lawmakers and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft reportedly declined to say if noncitizen voting is already illegal in Missouri. Circuit Judge Cotton Walker found that the summary is “fair and sufficient,” but said he “doubts whether the defendants or their counsel actually believe that noncitizens are actually allowed to vote.”

Experts have argued that noncitizens voting does not affect federal or state elections. 

Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst with the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, recently wrote that “there is no evidence that unauthorized immigrants, green-card holders, or immigrants on temporary visas are voting in significant numbers, despite some claims that ‘millions’ of noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections.” 

Most immigrants wouldn’t even try as the penalties for doing so are steep, argued Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. He wrote earlier this year that it is already a crime under federal and state law.

“But this one is different: By committing the crime, you create a government record of your having committed it,” he wrote. “So, you’ve not only exposed yourself to prison time and deportation, you’ve put yourself on the government’s radar, and you’ve handed the government the evidence it needs to put you in prison or deport you. All so you could cast one vote. Who would do such a thing?”

Opponents of North Carolina’s measure said it and others like it are based on the white nationalist “great replacement theory” that mass migration is replacing white people with those from other countries and ethnicities. The group said it “sows division across communities, promotes mistrust in our elections, and perpetuates anti-immigration hate and racism.”

Proponents of the constitutional amendments, meanwhile, say they merely make it clear who’s not allowed to vote. The Foundation for Government Accountability said that while state constitutions detail who can vote, “many states fail to expressly prohibit noncitizens from voting, leaving room for corrupt, activist judges to interpret the law in favor of noncitizens voting.”

Some cities and counties allow noncitizens to vote in at least some local elections. That includes some jurisdictions in California, Maryland and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. Advocates of noncitizen voting in those areas argue that all residents should have a say on topics like schools and public safety, regardless of their citizenship status.

The debate has led to increased scrutiny of several states’ voter registration practices.

Earlier this month month, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade ordered that some voter registrations in the state be updated, citing a Department of Motor Vehicles audit that found that more than 1,200 residents might have been erroneously registered by DMV staff to vote despite being noncitizens. Oregon is a “motor voter” state where DMV customers are automatically registered to vote.

In Arizona, officials discovered a flaw in their voter registration system involving a provision that residents offer proof of citizenship. Under Arizona law, voters must provide proof of citizenship to vote in state and local elections. If they do not, they can still register to vote for federal offices, but officials discovered a flaw with a database that said some people had provided proof of citizenship when they had not. 

The state Supreme Court ruled that those affected—about 98,000 people—are still eligible to vote.