En esta noticia
Voters in five states approved citizenship-only voting rules Tuesday, the same night Democrats won control of Congress. The measures passed in Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia, while Arizona rejected a broader version 53.1% to 46.9%.
Democrats were projected to win both the House and the Senate, ending Republicans’ hold on both chambers. All six measures dealt with who can vote in state and local elections. Results remain unofficial until each state certifies its count.
Five of the measures were constitutional amendments that state lawmakers sent to voters. Alaska’s was a citizen initiative, meaning supporters gathered signatures to put it on the ballot, and it changes state law instead.
Which 5 states passed citizenship-only voting rules, and by how much?
All five measures won comfortably, according to near-complete unofficial counts:
- West Virginia, 79.6% to 20.4%: The constitution now says only state residents who are also U.S. citizens are entitled to vote.
- Alaska, about 70%: A new state law says only U.S. citizens may vote in any election. Alaska counts some mail ballots after Election Day, so the final share may shift slightly.
- Arkansas, 69.1% to 30.9%: The constitution now limits voting to U.S. citizens who meet the state’s other voter requirements.
- Kansas, 63.6% to 36.4%: U.S. citizenship is now part of the constitution’s definition of an eligible voter.
- South Dakota, 61.5% to 38.5%: The constitution now bars anyone who isn’t a U.S. citizen from voting in any election.
Why did citizenship-only voting win against the Democratic wave?
The idea has long drawn support beyond the Republican base. Before Tuesday, voters had approved all 15 statewide citizenship-only voting measures from 2018 through 2025, by an average of 73%, according to Ballotpedia, a nonprofit that tracks ballot measures.
Kansas shows how far that support reaches. On the same ballot that approved the amendment, voters picked Democrat Adam Hamilton over Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. Hamilton is the state’s first Democratic U.S. senator since 1932.
State lawmakers were more divided. In Arkansas, Kansas and South Dakota, Republicans backed the amendments almost unanimously while most Democrats voted no. West Virginia’s passed its Legislature with support from every lawmaker in both parties.
Arizona’s Proposition 144 was the only one to fail. It paired the citizenship language with stricter ID rules for in-person and mail ballots, a ban on foreign election spending and other changes. Opponents argued it threatened voting by mail, and Arizona’s constitution already limits voting to U.S. citizens.
What do the citizenship-only voting rules change for voters?
For most voters, nothing right away. Federal law has barred noncitizens from voting for president and Congress since 1996. Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas and South Dakota already required citizenship to vote, either in state law or in their constitutions.
In Alaska, the state Department of Law concluded before the vote that the measure wouldn’t change who qualifies to vote. Supporters argued the existing law was unclear and needed updating.
The bigger effect is on what states and cities can do later. Federal law doesn’t cover local races, and a few places, such as San Francisco for school board elections and Takoma Park, Maryland, let some noncitizens vote. With the rule written into these state constitutions, reversing it would take another statewide vote.
Opponents in several states warned that the new wording could later be used to justify requiring voters to prove their citizenship when they register.