NC House Republicans back constitutional amendment for citizens-only voting

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Leading Republicans in the North Carolina House of Representatives are backing an effort to amend the state constitution by saying only U.S. citizens can vote.

House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) and other top Republicans in the chamber have filed a bill that would put the question to voters this fall.

“What we’d like to have is clear unambiguous language in the North Carolina Constitution that says only United States citizens can vote,” said Andy Jackson, who studies elections at the conservative John Locke Foundation. “This is really something to nip this in the bud rather than pushing back an active attempt.”

Currently, the state constitution says “every person born in the United States and every person has been naturalized, 18 years of age” is eligible to vote in the state.

The proposed amendment would re-write that to read, “Only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age” can vote.

Jackson said the existing language “kind of sets the floor, but it doesn’t really set the ceiling about who is not allowed to vote.”

Critics say the existing language is clear, and it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

“It’s just not happening here,” said Ann Webb, policy director of Common Cause North Carolina. “What this is driving is an extremist narrative that there are noncitizens voting in some numbers that could affect this election and ultimately that is just false.”

Jackson noted six other states recently have put similar proposed amendments on the ballot. They include North Dakota, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana and Ohio. They passed by wide margins in each state.

While Jackson said he’s unaware of any effort in North Carolina to push for noncitizens to be able to vote in local elections, that is occurring in some cities outside of the state, such as Washington, D.C.

The U.S. House voted last week to block that, with 52 Democrats voting with the Republicans. North Carolina Democrats Kathy Manning, Don Davis and Wiley Nickel voted in favor of the bill.

Following the 2016 election, the NC State Board of Elections released a report showing 41 instances of people voting who were in the country legally but not yet citizens.

This comes as immigration is a top issue, particularly for likely Republican voters, this year.

To put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in North Carolina, it requires a three-fifths vote of the legislature. Then, a simple majority of voters would have to approve it. The governor cannot veto a proposed amendment.

Republicans have a supermajority in the legislature, but some in the party have questioned whether the amendment is needed.

“You could make a legalistic argument that something like that is already prohibited. However, I do think I don’t see any harm in including that as a constitutional amendment,” said Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) in April.

The push for the change to the constitution also comes as former President Donald Trump has talked on the campaign trail about wanting to end birthright citizenship for people born in the United States to parents who immigrated to the country illegally, contradicting the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.