CHARLESTON – For the third consecutive session, resolutions that would amend the state Constitute to ensure only United States citizens vote in West Virginia elections have been introduced in the state Legislature.
House Joint Resolution 18 and Senate Joint Resolution 9 both were introduced January 20.
Kolean
“Only American citizens should vote in West Virginia’s elections,” Charlie Kolean, state director of Americans for Citizens Voting, told The West Virginia Record. “We’ve raised this issue over the past two legislative sessions because it matters to voters, and we believe this moment presents a real opportunity for Republican leadership to lead on an issue with overwhelming public support.
“Nearly 80 percent of Americans agree that voting should be limited to U.S. citizens. This is commonsense, it’s popular, and it’s exactly the kind of issue where Republicans can step forward, set the standard, and strengthen trust in our elections and our Republic.”
During the 2024 session, a similar resolution passed the House on a 96-0 vote and the Senate on a 32-0 vote. But the House measure died on the final night of the session because of a technical glitch in the Legislature’s bill tracking system that temporarily showed the measure as being completed.
By the time the problem was realized, it was too late for it and a host of other measures to be taken across the finish line because of a Democratic filibuster.
In last year’s session, the Senate resolution passed by a 34-0 vote before being sent to the House of Delegates’ Judiciary Committee, where it sat until the end of the session.
Proponents of the bill blamed House leadership for the 2025 failure, but House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R-Clay) told The Record shortly after last year’s session he expected the idea to get “an increased effort” this session because its impact this year has a mid-term election.
As previous ones, this year’s resolutions would modify Section 1, Article IV of the state Constitution to prohibit persons not United States citizens from voting in any election held within the state. The resolution needs to be adopted by both houses by a two-thirds vote to be put before voters in this fall’s general election.
The lead sponsor of HJR18 is Delegate Scot Heckert (R-Wood), and Delegates Rick Hillenbrand (R-Hampshire) and Dave Foggin (R-Wood) also are listed as sponsors.
Rucker
The lead sponsor of SJR9 is Sen. Patricia Rucker (R-Jefferson), who is a naturalized citizen. She was born in Venezuela, emigrated to the United States when she was 6 years old and became a U.S. citizen in 2004.
“This is a simple constitutional amendment that I believe most citizens will support and makes it consistent throughout the state that only U.S. citizens can vote in any West Virginia election,” Rucker told The Record last year.
Other sponsors of the Senate version are Senators Chris Rose (R-Monongalia), Darren Thorne (R-Hampshire) and Amy Grady (R-Mason).
In recent years, ACV has worked to have similar measures adopted in states. Texas voters approved a similar measure in November. And in 2024, eight states (Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin) passed laws to keep non-citizens from voting.
Including Texas, 21 states now have laws ensuring only American citizens can vote in those states, and several other states are actively considering such legislation.
Legislatures in Arkansas, Kansas and South Dakota already have placed amendments on the 2026 ballot. And in addition to West Virginia, efforts to place citizen only voting measures on the 2026 ballot are taking place in Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Tennessee.
