CHARLESTON – A West Virginia Senate committee has advanced a resolution that would ensure only United States citizens can vote in state elections.
On February 25, the Senate Judiciary Committee discussed Senate Joint Resolution 9 which, along with a similar joint resolution in the House of Delegates, would put the issue before voters in the form of a Constitutional amendment.
The Judiciary Committee approved and adopted a procedural committee substitute for SJR9 before approving and adopting a motion to report it to the Senate Finance Committee before it goes to the full Senate with a recommendation for approval.
All of this took place just hours President Donald Trump, in his State of the Union address, pushed Congress to pass an act requiring voters to present photo ID when voting and to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
House Joint Resolution 18 and SJR 9 both were introduced last month in the West Virginia Legislature, and both were sent to their respective Judiciary Committees. Both had languished until the Senate version was placed on the agenda for Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing.
Hanshaw
When asked earlier this month about this year’s House version, Ann Ali, Speaker Roger Hanshaw’s deputy chief of staff and communications director, said she was unable to ask Hanshaw (R-Clay) about it because the speaker was traveling a few days. But she said Jeff Billings, Hanshaw’s chief of staff, said “there was discussion during the off-season about doing this, but it has not yet come up again among the members since we’ve been gaveled in.”
Requests for comment from Hanshaw’s office were not returned Wednesday. Neither were requests with the governor’s office. Gov. Patrick Morrisey is a strong supporter of Trump.
As with previous versions, 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.
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.
Kolean
“Following President Trump’s comments last night, it’s encouraging to see the West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee moving the Citizens Only Voting resolution today,” said Charlie Kolean, state director of Americans for Citizen Voting. “This is a common-sense measure: only U.S. citizens should vote in American elections.
“The real question is — why would West Virginia hesitate to support something that such an overwhelming majority of Americans already agree on?
“The Senate has an opportunity to lead. Now we need the House to act and get this done.”
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.
Trump and other Republicans in Washington are touting the SAVE America Act as a way to combat voter fraud.
“I’m asking you to approve the Save America Act to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections,” Trump said during Tuesday night’s speech. “The cheating is rampant in our elections.”
Democrats, meanwhile, say voter fraud is extremely rare and that the legislation could disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans.
In addition to mandating a photo ID to vote, the SAVE America Act would require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship in person to register to vote. That includes those voting by mail, who would also have to enclose a copy of a photo ID in order to cast their ballots.
“It’s very simple,” Trump said. “All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote. And no more crooked mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel. None.
“Why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason, because they want to cheat. They make up all excuses. They say it’s racist. They come up with things. You almost say what imagination they have! They want to cheat, they have cheated and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.”
