Citizens-only voting amendment on NC's 2024 ballot
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North Carolinians will vote in November on whether to amend the state constitution to clarify that only citizens can cast ballots, after the state legislature passed a measure late last month to punt the issue to voters.
Why it matters: Immigration has been and will continue to be a key issue in this election cycle, and Republican lawmakers' move to put it on the ballot will keep it front and center here.
Between the lines: Already, only citizens are allowed to vote in North Carolina, and whether or not a majority of voters approve the amendment in November won't change that.
Still, the GOP framing of the border crisis has hit home with Republicans and Democrats alike and could give them a leg up at the ballot box this year.
- A growing number of Americans say they want to see immigration decreased, as a record number of migrants have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border under the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, former President Trump has claimed that waves of illegal immigrants are voting in our elections, though there's no evidence to support that.
How it works: On this year's ballot in North Carolina, voters will be able to approve or oppose a constitutional amendment that clarifies "only a citizen of the United States" can vote.
- As of now, the constitution states that "every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized" can vote.
- It's already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, but supporters of the change say it would make it "absolutely clear" that they cannot.
- "I feel like we're chasing a problem that doesn't exist," Democratic state Rep. Pricey Harrison said after Republicans began advancing the referendum, per the Associated Press.
State of play: Constitutional amendments cannot be vetoed by the governor and must pass the legislature with supermajorities in both chambers — 72 votes in the House and 30 in the Senate.
- The measure passed both chambers with bipartisan support and well over the threshold needed to make it on the ballot.
- Just four Democrats voted against the measure in the Senate; 12 did so in the House.
The intrigue: Republicans advanced four other constitutional amendments that ultimately didn't make it through the legislature to the ballot.
- Those that didn't pass were: A repeal of literacy test rules (though they had already been outlawed), restriction of the governor's power, new voter ID rules for absentee voters and an income tax cap of 5%.
- "The main amendment that we wanted to see pass was the non-citizen voting," House Speaker Tim Moore said, per WRAL.
Zoom out: The U.S. House also voted last week to ban non-citizen voting by requiring voters to present proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, though the measure is likely dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, Reuters reports.