Texas Voters to Decide on Constitutional Amendment Regarding Non-Citizen Voting

Texas Constitutional Amendment on Non-Citizen Voting

• 🗳️ Texas residents will vote this fall on a constitutional amendment to clarify that only U.S. citizens can vote in state elections.
• 🏛️ Governor Greg Abbott signed a joint resolution that, if approved by voters, will add language to the Texas Constitution explicitly prohibiting non-citizens from casting ballots.
• ⚖️ This measure follows a previous bill that failed, which critics argued would have disenfranchised eligible voters.

National Trend in Non-Citizen Voting Measures

• 🌍 Texas is part of a broader trend, with other states like Kansas, Arkansas, and South Dakota also considering similar measures on their ballots.
• 📜 Fifteen states have already explicitly banned non-citizen voting in their state constitutions.

Context and Statistics on Non-Citizen Voting

• 📊 Republicans view this as a significant issue for election security, but the actual prevalence of non-citizen voting is debated.
• 📉 In Texas, Governor Abbott claims over 6,500 potential non-citizens were removed from voter rolls since 2021, representing less than 0.004% of the state's 18 million voters.
• 🔍 A probe in Ohio found fewer than 100th of a percent of registered voters were non-citizens.
• 🚫 It has been illegal for non-citizens to vote in state or federal elections since 1996, with penalties including perjury charges for lying on voter registration forms.