AUSTIN – A national group has begun a push to ensure passage of a Texas proposition that would ensure only American citizens can vote in all state elections.
Americans for Citizens Voting held a press conference July 28 at the state Capitol regarding Proposition 16, also known as the Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment that will appear on the upcoming statewide ballot this fall.
Kolean
“This movement is about protecting the integrity of our elections,” Charlie Kolean, state director of ACV, said during Monday’s press conference. “Prop 16 is simple. It’s an amendment to the Texas constitution to make clear, once and for all, that only United States citizens can vote in all elections in the state of Texas.
“This is a commonsense safeguard supported by voters across the political spectrum, and one that already exists in 15 states. We will send a clear and resounding message the right to vote in our state is reserved exclusively for citizens.”
Proposition 16 proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would explicitly require U.S. citizenship to vote in all state and local elections—ensuring that the right to vote remains an exclusive privilege of American citizens. The amendment would add noncitizens to the list of persons excluded from voting in Texas found in Section 1, Article 6 of the Texas Constitution.
Kolean said ACV has worked for three years over two legislative sessions to get this issue on the ballot. He said ACV now plans to cover the state talking to voters to ensure they know why this proposition is important.
“Let’s be clear: This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “This is not left versus right. It’s about Texans versus non-citizens deciding the future of our communities. Loopholes already have opened up the door for non-citizens voting in local elections. We’ve seen it in San Francisco and New York City. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. Prop 16 will close that door in Texas.”
State Sen. Brian Birdwell agreed.
“Citizenship is precious,” said Birdwell, who sponsored the legislation in the Senate. “Only citizens should be able to vote. Only citizens should be able to direct the public policies of their representative republic.
“This currently is statutory, but we want to make it constitutional to clarify any ambiguity in the statute.”
Rep. Candy Noble led House efforts to get the bill passed.
“This is an important constitutional amendment,” she said. “Protecting the integrity of our elections is our chief responsibility. But our confidence depends on a clear, enforceable law that leaves no room for doubt.”
The current list of persons excluded from voting in Texas are persons under the age of 18, those determined by a court to be mentally incompetent and convicted felons and any exceptions by the state Legislature.
Proposition 16 would close any ambiguity in state law and constitutionally reinforce that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in local, state, and federal elections held in Texas.
“Proposition 16 is a commonsense safeguard that makes clear what most Texans already believe — only American citizens should decide American elections,” Kolean said. “This amendment strengthens the integrity of our election system and sends a clear message: the right to vote belongs to citizens and citizens alone.”
The amendment will be placed on ballots for the November 4 election. The ballot will be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition that would say, “The constitutional amendment clarifying that a voter must be a United States citizen.”
If approved by voters, the proposal would amend the state Constitution to add that persons who are not citizens of the U.S. shall not be allowed to vote in the state. While non-Americans can’t vote in state or federal elections in Texas, the idea that non-citizens could vote in local and municipal elections is what Kolean’s group hopes to prevent.
In recent years, Americans for Citizen Voting has worked to have similar measures adopted in states. Last November, eight states (Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin) passed laws to keep non-citizens from voting.
Currently, 20 states have laws to make sure only American citizens can vote in that state, and several other states are actively considering such legislation. Texas joins Arkansas, Kansas and South Dakota in having passed similar measures this year.
