A constitutional amendment that would prohibit noncitizens from voting in Kentucky elections will appear on the ballot this year.
The Kentucky General Assembly passed Senate Bill 143 on March 15 following a 72-12 vote. The measure will now go before the people for consideration.
“No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in this state,” states the bill. Kentucky already prohibits anyone “convicted in any court of competent jurisdiction of treason, or felony, or bribery in an election, or of such high misdemeanor,” anyone “in confinement under the judgment of a court for some penal offense,” and “idiots and insane persons” from voting in its elections.
The state’s Senate voted 31-4 in favor of the bill in February. At the time, lawmakers expressed concern that the current language regarding voter eligibility – which included the phrase “every citizen of the United States” — could be interpreted as ambiguous and that more specific terms were needed.
“This is about protecting citizens and the thousands of people who’ve lawfully navigated the immigration process. One of the rewards of doing so is earning the right to vote,” said Kentucky Senator Jason Howell, per WKU.
“It’s odd we don’t already have this spelled out in our constitution,” the Republican continued. “While this is specifically prohibited at the federal level, it isn’t addressed here in Kentucky.”
Similar efforts to define voter eligibility are underway in West Virginia. The state’s House of Delegates passed a resolution on Feb. 6 96-0 that would allow residents to vote on an amendment barring non-citizens from voting in elections. According to Fox News, “citizens only” voting regulations are in place in 11 states.
The West Virginia Senate also passed the proposal 32-0. However, lawmakers included a minor change that must be approved by the House.
“Most people assume that in order to vote in the United States, a person must be a citizen of the United States,” said State Senate President Craig Blair to The West Virginia Record. “However, that isn’t always the case. Liberal cities like San Francisco and New York are allowing non-citizens to vote.”
“Unless our West Virginia constitution specifically states that only citizens can vote, the possibility of non-citizens legally voting exists,” he continued. “So, we have proposed a Constitutional Amendment that will ensure that only citizens can vote in elections in West Virginia. Only citizens of the United States and West Virginia should be voting in West Virginia elections.”
A New York City law that would have allowed 800,000 legal residents who are not American citizens to vote was found to be unconstitutional in February.
“We determine that this local law was enacted in violation of the New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law, and thus, must be declared null and void,” wrote Appellate Judge Paul Wooten for the majority in the case.
Judge Lillian Wan, the only member of the four-judge panel court to dissent, acknowledged that attitudes toward non-citizen voting have shifted over time.
“Throughout much of the early history of the United States, many state and local governments permitted immigrants who lacked citizenship to vote in certain elections, but the practice was eventually phased out,” she wrote.
