West Virginia voters have approved a state constitutional amendment explicitly forbidding noncitizens from voting in elections.
MetroNews made the call with “yes” votes leading by more than 100,000 votes.
Voters in West Virginia’s election had a choice about an amendment to change the wording in the state Constitution from saying “Citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote” to “only citizens of the state who are citizens of the United States are entitled to vote.”
Voting by noncitizens is already unlawful under state and federal statute, but this ballot measure was to place the restriction in the state Constitution.
The wording of the proposed amendment is this:
Only citizens of the United States who are citizens of this state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the counties in which they respectively reside; but a person who is a minor, or who has been declared mentally incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction, or who is under conviction of treason, felony or bribery in an election, or who has not been a resident of the state and of the county in which he or she offers to vote, for 30 days next preceding such offer, shall not be permitted to vote while such disability continues; and, a person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States shall not be deemed a resident of this state by reason of being stationed therein.
A “yes” vote supports amending the constitution. A “no” vote opposes the amendment and would be for keeping the language as “The citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote.”