Titled the Citizenship Requirement for Voting Amendment, or Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 1, the state’s Constitution would be changed to say that only U.S. citizens could vote in elections in the state, according to Ballotpedia. This also includes elections for school trustees and local school board elections.
Noncitizens already are not allowed to vote or register to vote in state or local elections. To vote in Kentucky elections, individuals must be U.S. citizens and have resided in Kentucky at least 28 days before Election Day. In addition, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton, made it a criminal offense for a noncitizen to vote in a presidential election.
Voters will be asked to vote yes or no:
IT IS PROPOSED THAT SECTION 145 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF KENTUCKY BE AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
Every citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen years who has resided in the state one year, and in the county six months, and the precinct in which he or she offers to vote sixty days next preceding the election, shall be a voter in said precinct and not elsewhere. No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in this state. The following persons also shall not have the right to vote:
IT IS PROPOSED THAT SECTION 155 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF KENTUCKY BE AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
The provisions of Sections 145 to 154, inclusive, shall not apply to the election of school trustees and other common school district elections. Said elections shall be regulated by the General Assembly, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in said elections.
Here is the exact language of the proposed Amendment 1.
There is no evidence that noncitizens have ever voted in state elections, according to Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams. In a phone interview with LINK nky, Adams, a Republican, said the proposed amendment doesn’t outright bar noncitizens from voting in state and local elections, but rather clarifies constitutional language regarding the potential of noncitizens’ being able to vote in Kentucky.
“The amendment would not in any way change the mechanics of the election,” Adams said. “It would not change the voter experience. It would not create any new obligations on voters’ part. All it would do is clarify law, because the language in our constitution is somewhat indirectly written, and it implies, but does not outright state, that noncitizens cannot vote in Kentucky elections. It says that every citizen can vote, but it doesn’t say that the noncitizen can’t vote.”
Specifically, the amendment would add a sentence – “No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in said elections.” – to both sections 145 and 155 of the Kentucky Constitution. As currently written, section 145 outlines who qualifies to vote in statewide elections and who does not have the right to vote in said elections. Section 155 states that school trustee and school board elections shall not be governed by the state’s constitution.
Another purpose of the amendment, Adams said, is to provide a potential safeguard from future litigation regarding elections.
“If the law is unclear, if it’s ambiguous, then you litigate it, and you get the courts to tell you,” he said. “The idea here is to simply have the voters tell us in our constitution that they agree with our interpretation, that noncitizens should not be voting in our elections in Kentucky.”
Overwhelming GOP support
The amendment, or Senate Bill 143, was first proposed by 11 Republican state senators on Jan. 29. It passed the Senate on Feb. 12 with a 31-4 margin. In total, 29 Republican and two Democratic senators supported the amendment. Four Democrats voted against it.
All five Republican state senators representing portions of Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties – Gex Williams, John Schickel, Damon Thayer, Chris McDaniel and Shelley Funke Frommeyer – voted in favor of the amendment.
The amendment passed the Kentucky House on March 15, 72-12. Sixty-nine Republicans and three Democrats voted for the amendment, while only Democrats voted against it.
Northern Kentucky Republican representatives Kim Banta, Steve Doan, Mark Hart, Savannah Maddox, Marianne Proctor, Stephanie Dietz, Kim Moser and Mike Clines voted in favor of the amendment. The lone Northern Kentucky Democrat in the House, Rachel Roberts of Newport, voted against it.
State Rep. Steve Rawlings, a Republican from Burlington, did not attend the vote but does support the amendment, according to a release from his office. Rawlings, like other statewide Republicans, argued that the amendment is “aimed at closing a loophole that could allow non-citizens to vote in elections.”
“I believe it is crucial that only U.S. citizens vote in elections,” he said. “Letting only citizens vote helps ensure decisions are fair and protect everyone. To be clear, this does not mean we do not appreciate the role of legal immigrants; it simply means we do not want guests making decisions for residents.”
Rawlings is running this year for the 11th District Senate seat.
Solution looking for problem?
While the amendment garnered overwhelming support from Republicans statewide, some Kentucky Democrats aren’t convinced it’s necessary. Sen. David Yates, a Democrat from Louisville, argued that noncitizens simply aren’t voting in statewide elections.
“I, too, would not want someone who’s not a citizen of the United States to be voting in our elections,” Yates said during a Senate committee hearing. “But that’s not happening. And I don’t think there’s any fear of it happening since it’s already in Kentucky’s constitution.”
Other left-leaning organizations, such as progressive news and commentary website Forward Kentucky, argue that the amendment is a ploy to motivate Republicans to vote in November.
Despite some criticism from Democrats, Adams said the amendment hasn’t really received much negative media attention or backlash overall.
“The federal law that prevents noncitizens from voting was signed by Bill Clinton, so I don’t think it’s a partisan issue,” Adams said. “I don’t think it’s an emotional issue. I think it’s just a common sense, practical thing. Our constitution, since 1891, has implied that noncitizens shouldn’t be voting. We’re just clarifying it.”
