Oklahoma State Question 834, Citizenship Requirement for Voting Amendment (2024)
| Oklahoma State Question 834 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Suffrage | |
| Status | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
State Question 834, the Oklahoma Citizenship Requirement for Voting Amendment, was on the ballot in Oklahoma as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.[1] It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the state constitution to provide that only U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or older can vote in elections. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the state constitution to provide that only U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or older can vote in elections, rather than every citizen. |
Election results
See also: Results for voting-related and noncitizen voting ballot measures, 2024
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Oklahoma State Question 834 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
1,207,520 | 80.73% | ||
| No | 288,267 | 19.27% | ||
Overview
What did State Question 834 change about voting in Oklahoma?
- See also: Text of measure
This measure prohibited local governments from allowing noncitizens to vote by providing in the state constitution that only a citizen of the U.S., rather than every citizen of the U.S., can vote.[1]
What do other state constitutions say about suffrage and citizenship?
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections, such as U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidential elections. Federal law did not address state or local elections.[2]
All state constitutions mention United States citizenship when discussing who can vote in that state's elections. As of October 2024, in 43 states, constitutional language discussing citizenship says who can vote (e.g. "every citizen" or "all citizens"), but does not state that noncitizens cannot vote. In seven states—Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Ohio—the state constitutions specify that only citizens, but not noncitizens, have the right to vote. In 2018, 2020, and 2022, constitutional amendments to state that only a citizen (rather than every citizen) may vote were approved in six states.
Did other states vote on similar measures in 2024?
- See also: Background
Bans on noncitizen voting at the state level had become more frequent since 2018. Voters in six states approved ballot measures banning noncitizen voting from 2018 to 2022. In 2024, eight state legislatures referred constitutional amendments to the ballot to prohibit the state or local governments from allowing noncitizen voting. The eight states were Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Voters approved each constitutional amendment.
Jack Tomczak, Vice President of Americans for Citizen Voting, which supported the ballot measures, said, "We, and legislators who sponsor these, are getting ahead of fixing a problem that maybe has not reared its head as much in these states. It’s not like it’s happening everywhere and it must be stopped immediately. But preemption is not a bad thing." Jonathan Diaz, Director of Voting Advocacy for the Campaign Legal Center, said, "These proposed constitutional amendments are aimed really at two things: preventing local governments in those states from allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote in local elections, and advancing this false narrative that non-U.S. citizens are somehow participating in U.S. elections in large numbers, which is totally unsupported by any evidence or facts."[3]
As of 2024, municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont, along with Washington, D.C., allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections. In November, voters in Santa Ana, California, decided on a ballot measure to allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for the amendment was as follows:[4]
| “ | This measure amends Section 1 of Article 3 of the Oklahoma Constitution. It clarifies that only citizens of the United States are qualified to vote in this state. SHALL THE PROPOSAL BE APPROVED?[5] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article III, Oklahoma Constitution
The measure amended Section 1 of Article III of the state constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added.[1]
Section 1. Qualifications of electors.
Subject to such exceptions as the Legislature may prescribe, all only citizens of the United States, who are over the age of eighteen (18) years, and who are bona fide residents of this state, are qualified electors of this state.[5]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 9, and the FRE is 49. The word count for the ballot title is 31.
Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Sen. Micheal Bergstrom (R)
- State Rep. Charles A. McCall (R)
Organizations
Arguments
Opposition
Opponents
Officials
- State Sen. Mary Boren (D)
- State Sen. Carri Hicks (D)
Arguments
Campaign finance
If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Background
Citizenship voting requirement ballot measures
From 2018 to 2022, voters decided on six ballot measures related to adding language about citizenship requirements for voting. Voters approved all six measures with at least 62.9% of the vote. In 2024, eight states voted on ballot measures addressing citizenship requirements for voting.
Partisanship of legislative votes on referred measures
The following table shows the percentage of Democratic and Republican legislators that supported referring constitutional amendments to the state's ballot requiring citizenship to vote. The average percent of Republican support was 100% while the average percent of Democratic support was 45.6%.
In Alabama and Iowa, legislators passed the referrals with unanimous support from both parties.
Noncitizen-voting in the United States
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections, such as U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidential elections. Federal law did not address state or local elections.[2]
Fifteen municipalities across the country allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections as of January 2022. Eleven were located in Maryland, two were located in Vermont, one was New York City, and the other was San Francisco, California. San Francisco allowed noncitizens to vote in school board elections by approving Proposition N in 2016. On January 9, 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed a bill that would allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections starting in January 2023.[6]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Oklahoma Constitution
In Oklahoma, a constitutional amendment requires a simple majority vote in both chambers of the Oklahoma State Legislature.
The constitutional amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 23. It was approved in the Senate on May 30, 2024, by a vote of 37-7. The House approved the amendment on the same day by a vote of 71-11.[1]
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Oklahoma
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Oklahoma.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Oklahoma State Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 23," accessed May 31, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cornell Law School, "18 U.S. Code § 611 - Voting by aliens," accessed March 26, 2020
- ↑ NBC News, "GOP efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting extend to state ballot measures," September 14, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedOverview - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ The New York Times, "Noncitizens’ Right to Vote Becomes Law in New York City," January 9, 2022
- ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed April 27, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Oklahoma State Election Board, "Voter Registration in Oklahoma," accessed April 27, 2023
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 NCSL, "State Profiles: Elections," accessed August 8, 2024
- ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Phase One of Online Vote Registration is LIVE!" accessed June 8, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Oklahoma Voter Registration Application," accessed November 2, 2024
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Oklahoma State Election Board, "Facts about Proof of Identity for Voting in Oklahoma," accessed April 27, 2023
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