The Sconi

A proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution seeks to clarify that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in national, state and local elections.

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna), who with state Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton) introduced the resolution, said in a statement the amendment was “vitally important” to “protect the sanctity and integrity of our elections.”

Steineke added that the Wisconsin Constitution stipulates that every U.S. citizen has the ability to cast a ballot in the state. But he also noted that several states and municipalities around the country have made efforts to expand the definition of a qualified elector and dilute the voting process for legal citizens.

“We should be holding Wisconsin elections to the highest standard, and this constitutional amendment that closes a loophole for non-citizens to vote will only increase the confidence Wisconsinites have in that process,” Steineke said.

Non-citizens are already barred from voting in federal elections, per the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act passed by Congress in 1996. The law does not cover state or local elections.

Some government jurisdictions have extended voting rights to non-citizens, including nine municipalities in Maryland, and the city of San Francisco, according to Ballotpedia. Other states have made efforts to clarify this language. Colorado's Amendment 76, also called the Citizenship Requirement for Voting Initiative, was approved as a constitutional amendment by the state's voters in Nov. 2020. It changed language that "every citizen" can vote in Colorado to "only a citizen" can vote. The Amendment won 63% of the vote, Ballotpedia states.

In November 2020, voters in Colorado, Florida and Alabama approved ballot measures that only U.S. citizens 18 and older can vote, according to a report by the Associated Press. Prior to these votes, only the constitutions of North Dakota and Arizona specifically forbid non-citizens from voting in local elections.

As of 2017 there were approximately 25 million noncitizens living in the U.S., Ballotpedia reports. That included 12.3 million permanent residents and 2.2 million temporary residents in the country with legal permission and 10.5 million living in the country without legal permission.

The proposed Wisconsin amendment must be approved in successive legislative sessions, and then ratified by the voters.