Should Non-Citizens Vote in American Elections?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerning election integrity. It is common sense that states should allow only citizens of the United States to vote in our elections. However, it makes news when states take steps to protect the voting privilege for U.S. citizens.

Fred Lucas reported in an article published at The Daily Signal that two states are working to amend their state constitution to require proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote. Those two states are South Dakota and Kansas. 

Two states advanced proposals this week to amend their constitutions to require citizenship for voting.

The South Dakota Senate voted 33-2 on Tuesday for an amendment banning noncitizen voting.

Two days later, the Kansas House of Representatives voted 90-28 for a similar amendment to its state’s constitution.

The amendments would still have to be passed by the other chambers of the legislatures – which is likely since Republicans control the legislatures in these conservative-leaning states. After that, voters will decide. Each state requires a simple majority of the voters to pass a constitutional amendment. In other states, voters have approved amendments to ban noncitizen voting by 70% or more.

So far, 14 states have similar amendments to their state constitutions, eight of which were adopted in this past November election, according to Americans for Citizens Voting, an advocacy group. In most cases, voters approved the amendments by comfortable margins….

The citizen-only voting amendments will not affect federal elections in these states, where it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote. Rather, the amendments are to prevent municipalities from allowing noncitizen voting.

Currently 21 local jurisdictions in California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Vermont, and the District of Columbia allow noncitizens to vote in local races for school board, mayor, and similar offices.

Critics warn that allowing noncitizens to vote in local but not state or federal elections places a burden on maintaining two separate voter registration lists for election officials.

Successful campaigns for citizen-only voting balloting initiatives passed in 2024 for the following states: Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. In 2022, voters approved amendments to their state constitutions in Florida, Alabama, and Colorado. In 2018, an amendment was approved by voters in North Dakota.

Citizen-only voting is “common sense” and puts America first.