Statewide referendum question would change eligibility to vote from “every” to “only” United States citizens
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — A statewide referendum question on the November 5 ballot seeks to change the Wisconsin constitution from allowing “every” eligible United States citizen to vote to allowing “only” United States citizens to vote.
The question will read, “Eligibility to vote. Shall section 1 of article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or a statewide office or local referendum?”
Currently, the Wisconsin Constitution reads, “every United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote …”
According to the League of Women Voters, “A ‘yes’ vote supports the changes to the constitution … (and supports removing) the guarantee that ‘every’ U.S. citizen has the right to vote in favor of language that limits the right to vote to ‘only’ U.S. citizens while opening the door to further limits to the right to vote.”
Regarding a “no” vote, the League of Women Voters states, “A ‘no’ vote indicates support for keeping the guarantee in our state constitution that ‘every’ U.S. citizen has the right to vote.”
According to the League of Women Voters, “Wisconsin already has safe and secure elections and safeguards in place to ensure only eligible voters are voting.”
Federal law
According to an article published October 7, 2024, in the Milwaukee Journal, as a practical matter, nothing would change if “every” becomes “only” since noncitizens currently are not allowed to vote in Wisconsin.
Federal law prevents noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and none of the towns, villages or cities in Wisconsin allow local noncitizens to vote in local elections, the article states.
According to the Wisconsin Election Commission, there have been four cases of alleged election fraud in the entire state related to citizenship in the last 10 years, according to the Milwaukee Journal.
The change proposed by the referendum question is intended to prevent any Wisconsin municipalities in the future from allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections because the constitutional amendment would expressly prohibit it, according to the Milwaukee Journal.
There are no states in the United States that allow noncitizens to vote in statewide elections, the Milwaukee Journal article states.
Three states, along with Washington D.C., have some municipalities that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. San Francisco, California, allows parents and guardians to vote in school board elections. Several cities in Maryland and Vermont allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, according to the Milwaukee Journal.
The Milwaukee Journal notes that in the last two years, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature has put seven constitutional amendment referendum questions on the statewide ballot, which is the most since 1982.
17 out of 35,000
According to the State Democracy Research Initiative, which is part of the University of Wisconsin Law School, there are 17 municipalities in the entire United States, out of more than 35,000 towns and cities, that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. Eleven of the 17 are in Maryland, and the remainder are in Vermont, California and Washington D.C.
According to a federal law passed in 1996, there are criminal penalties of a fine and a prison sentence of up to a year for a noncitizen who votes in a federal election, even if the person voted by mistake. The federal law includes the provision that if a noncitizen does vote illegally in local, state or federal elections, the person also could be deported, the State Democracy Research Initiative website notes.
Seven states have already adopted the change from “every” citizen or “all” citizens to “only” citizens. Eight additional states will vote on the “only” citizens provision in the November election, including Wisconsin.
“Critics of these amendments express concern that they serve mainly to fuel a dangerous misimpression that noncitizens are currently voting in the United States,” according to the State Democracy Research Initiative, which notes that the Heritage Foundation database reports 23 instances of noncitizens voting nationwide between 2003 and 2022.
According to an Associated Press article published on the PBS Wisconsin website October 20, 2024, Wisconsin Ethics Commission records show that only one organization has registered in favor of the constitutional amendment while 30 other organizations have registered in opposition of the constitutional amendment.
