Wisconsin voters approve Republican constitutional amendment for noncitizen voting prohibition

Wisconsin voters approved a Republican-written constitutional amendment in Tuesday’s elections that changed one word regarding citizens voting.

The Wisconsin Constitution states that every U.S. citizen, who is at least 18, can vote. The amendment revises that language to read that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal, state and local elections held in Wisconsin.

In the past two years, Republicans in Wisconsin have written up more constitutional amendments than in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio combined. Wisconsin has seen seven amendments on the ballot from Republicans, who controlled the Legislature. In those other six states, there have been six total.

Constitutional amendment ballot questions presented to voters

Democrats contend the measures could create hurdles for legal voters and lead people to believe that the problem of noncitizens voting is bigger than it really is.

Republicans across the country have been pushing voters to adopt constitutional amendments that explicitly prohibit non-U.S. citizens from voting. The move was spurred by the District of Columbia and municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections, such as a school board race where a parent may not be a citizen, but the child that goes to that school is.

The amendment was on the ballot in seven other states besides Wisconsin this cycle, according to Ballotpedia. North Dakota, Alabama, Florida, Colorado, Ohio and Louisiana have already adopted it.