Voters in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia will decide ballot measures Tuesday that would state explicitly that only U.S. citizens may vote, Stateline reported.
Federal law already bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and no state allows noncitizens to vote in statewide elections. Sponsors, primarily Republicans, say the measures would keep cities and other local governments from letting noncitizens vote in local elections, as some municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont have done.
Arkansas state Rep. David Ray (R) called his state’s measure “preventative.” “We know that bad ideas, whether they’re in California or Illinois or Maryland or some other state, there’s nothing that magically stops those bad ideas at that state’s borders,” he said, according to Stateline.
Some critics say the amendments limit local control. “This is really about, ‘Do we want to give localities the power to decide who their electorate is?'” said Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky law professor.
States that have audited their voter rolls have found noncitizen voting to be extremely rare, Stateline reported. A 2024 Georgia audit found 20 noncitizens registered to vote among 8.2 million registered voters.
The measures
Alaska’s Ballot Measure 3 is the only one placed on the ballot by citizen initiative. It would change state law to say that only a person who is a U.S. citizen and meets the other requirements may vote.
The other five are constitutional amendments referred by state legislatures: Arkansas Issue 1, the Kansas amendment, South Dakota Amendment J, West Virginia Amendment 1 and Arizona Proposition 144.
Arizona’s broader measure
Arizona’s Constitution already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. Proposition 144 would reaffirm that only citizens may register and vote, but it also covers several other election issues, according to the Arizona Legislative Council’s analysis and Ballotpedia. It would:
- require voters to show government-issued proof of identity in each election, including when voting by mail;
- give voters the option to have their ballots tabulated at their voting location on Election Day;
- bar foreign nationals from contributing or spending money to influence Arizona elections;
- allow election laws, including on early and mail voting, if they are “rationally connected to a legitimate state interest.”
The proposition would apply to elections on or after Jan. 1, 2028.
Past results
Between 2018 and 2025, voters decided 15 statewide citizenship-requirement measures and approved all 15, with an average of 73% in favor, according to Ballotpedia. Eight of them were on the ballot in 2024.
