11 states to consider noncitizen voting, voter ID
With the midterm elections one week away, voters in 11 states across the country will decide on noncitizen voting and voter ID questions.
State legislatures across the country placed voter ID and noncitizen voting requirements in state ballot measures. Voters will make choices on whether to enshrine voter ID requirements and noncitizen voting prohibitions in state constitutions.
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia will have voters consider whether to enshrine prohibitions on noncitizens voting in state constitutions. Non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in state and federal elections across the country.
Americans for Citizen Voting, a Republican-aligned advocacy group, has spent millions in all six states to support passage of the constitutional amendment.
State legislators said the issue is meant to prevent local governments across the country from rolling back citizenship requirements to vote in state and federal elections.
“Issue 1 would prevent any Arkansas city or county from legalizing noncitizen voting in local elections,” said Republican Arkansas State Rep. David Ray.
Ray sponsored the amendment to the Arkansas Constitution, which clarifies that only an individual who is a U.S. citizen, an Arkansas resident, at least 18 years old, and lawfully registered to vote can participate in state and federal elections.
The League of Women Voters of Arkansas opposed Issue 1. The league argued that the measure is redundant because noncitizen voting is illegal.
“[The League of Women Voters of Arkansas] opposes adding unnecessary language to the Arkansas Constitution where existing constitutional protections already address the stated issue,” the group wrote in a post on social media.
West Virginia voters will be faced with Amendment 1, a measure led by Rep. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, to restrict noncitizens from voting in elections.
“This proposed amendment would ensure that no future Legislature could simply just change the election law with only a bill,” Rucker said. “It also gives greater authority to enforce the law we already have in place.”
West Virginia’s League of Women Voters also opposed amendment 1. In Alaska, proponents of Ballot Measure 3 said the state’s laws around voting requirements are unclear and need additional updates.
Former Alaska state Senator John Coghill supported the measure as a necessary clarification. He said the measure gives the legislature greater authority to make decisions on non-citizen voting cases during a July hearing.
“The current law says citizens may vote, but it does not specifically say that only citizens may vote, and this measure closes that gap, and it makes the law in Alaska unmistakably clear,” Coghill said.
However, other Alaska lawmakers fiercely opposed the amendment. Rep. Alyse Gavin said the measure would be redundant and warned it could disenfranchise voters by giving the state greater authority to disregard certain registrations.
“Our system somehow has created fear,” she continued. “And my worry is that this particular ballot measure is going to engender more of that, more of this sort of action, and more of this sort of fear.”
Arizona voters will be faced with a noncitizen prohibition measure in addition to voter ID requirements. California, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada and Ohio will also see voter ID requirements on the ballot.
In Arizona, a “yes” vote on Proposition 144 would require a government-issued ID to cast a ballot, provide that “only citizens may register and vote in Arizona elections,” and prohibit foreign national contributions in elections.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said the measure would disenfranchise voters in Arizona who vote by mail. The measure’s requirements, Kelly said, make it nearly impossible to submit proper identification to vote, The Center Square reported.
“This is the most common way to vote in Arizona. Over 80% of people vote by mail,” Kelly said. “I think it’s no coincidence that we’re in a midterm election year and that the most popular way to vote in Arizona is under attack.”
Voters across all 11 states will head to the ballot on Nov. 3 and make consequential decisions on voting requirements. For more information on ballot initiatives and midterm elections, visit thecentersquare.com/elections.
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