Idaho HJR 5, Citizenship Requirement for Voting Amendment (2024)
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| Idaho HJR 5 | |
|---|---|
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| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Suffrage | |
| Status | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
Idaho HJR 5, the Citizenship Requirement for Voting Amendment, was on the ballot in Idaho as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.[1] The ballot measure was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the Idaho Constitution to provide that only a citizen of the United States can vote in the state. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the Idaho Constitution to provide that only a citizen of the United States can vote in the state. |
Election results
See also: Results for voting-related and noncitizen voting ballot measures, 2024
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Idaho HJR 5 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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572,865 | 64.93% | ||
| No | 309,456 | 35.07% | ||
Overview
What did this amendment do?
- See also: Constitutional changes
This measure amended the Idaho Constitution to require a person to be a U.S. citizen in order to vote in elections in Idaho. As of 2024, Idaho law prohibited noncitizens from voting or registering to vote in the state for any state or local elections. Idaho law defined a qualified elector as a person who is at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, a resident of the state and county for at least 30 days before the next preceding election, and registered to vote.[1]
Can noncitizens vote in the United States?
- See also: Noncitizen-voting in the United States
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections, including elections for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidential elections. This does not apply to elections at the state and local levels.
Sixteen municipalities across the country allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections as of December 2023. Eleven were located in Maryland, three were located in Vermont, and two were located in California.
What do other state constitutions say about noncitizen voting?
All state constitutions mention United States citizenship when discussing who can vote in that state's elections. As of 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 Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Ohio, the state constitutions provide that citizens, but not noncitizens, have the right to vote.
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."[2]
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
Short ballot title
The short ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall Section 2, Article VI of the Constitution of the State of Idaho be amended to provide that individuals who are not citizens of the United States may not be qualified electors in any election held within the state of Idaho?[3] | ” |
Long ballot title
The long ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ |
This proposed constitutional amendment provides that only Idaho residents who are citizens of the United States are eligible to vote in elections in the State of Idaho and that noncitizens are not eligible to vote in any election in the State of Idaho. Currently, Section 2, Article VI of the Constitution of the State of Idaho provides: "every male or female citizen of the United States, eighteen years old, who has resided in this state, and in the county where he or she offers to vote for the period provided by law, if registered as provided by law, is a qualified elector." This provision does not expressly prohibit noncitizens from voting. The proposed amendment adds language to provide that only United States citizens may vote in elections in the State of Idaho.[3] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Idaho Constitution
The ballot measure amended Article VI, Section 2 of the Idaho Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:[1]
Text of Section 2: Qualifications of Electors
Every male or female citizen of the United States, eighteen years old, who has resided in this state, and in the county were where he or she offers to vote for the period of time provided by law, if registered as provided by law, is a qualified elector. No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be a qualified elector in any election held within the state of Idaho.[3]
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 and summary 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 attorney general wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 20, and the FRE is 20. The word count for the ballot title is 40.
The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 17, and the FRE is 28. The word count for the ballot summary is 131.
Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Rep. Kevin Andrus (R)
Organizations
Arguments
Opposition
Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.
Campaign finance
Ballotpedia did not identify ballot measure committees registered to support or oppose the ballot measure.[4]
| 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
Voting in Idaho
- See also: Voting in Idaho
- Check your voter registration status here.
To register to vote in Idaho, one must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the Idaho county in which he or she is registering for at least 30 days before the election, and at least 18 years old on or before Election Day.[5][6]
Registration in advance of election day may be completed online, in person at the county clerk's office, or by mail. The deadline to register to vote online is the 24th day before the election A registration application submitted by mail must be postmarked by the 25th day before the election. Voters may also register in-person at an early voting location or on Election Day.[5][7]
Idaho requires a photo ID and proof of residence to register to vote in person. According to the secretary of state's website, a valid photo ID is one of:[7]
- Idaho Driver’s License
- Idaho Identification Card
- Passport or Federal ID
- Tribal ID Card
- Concealed Weapons License issued by a county sheriff in Idaho
A valid proof of residence is one of:[7]
- Above photo ID with the correct address
- Proof of insurance
- Mortgage, lease, or rental agreement
- Property tax assessment, bill
- Utility bill (no cell bills)
- Bank/credit card statement
- Paystub/paycheck
- Intake document to a care facility
- Enrollment letter from an Idaho high school or university
- Letter from a social service agency
A voter registering to vote by a mail application must provide their Idaho driver's license number or their social security number. If the voter is registering for the first time they must also include a copy of a photo ID and proof of residence. Eligible documents are listed above.[5]
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.[8]
Sixteen municipalities across the country allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections as of December 2023. Eleven were located in Maryland, three were located in Vermont, and two were located in California. San Francisco allowed noncitizens to vote in school board elections by approving Proposition N in 2016.
In June 2022, the New York State Supreme Court for Staten Island overturned a New York City law to allow noncitizen voting, ruling that it violated the state's constitution. According to Judge Ralph Porzio, “by not expressly including non-citizens in the New York State Constitution, it was the intent of the framers for non-citizens to be omitted.”[9]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Idaho Constitution
A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required during one legislative session for the Idaho State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 47 votes in the Idaho House of Representatives and 24 votes in the Idaho State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 5 on March 5, 2024. The House voted 63-6 to approve the measure on March 11, 2024. The Senate voted 28-6 to approve the measure on March 25, 2024.[10]
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Idaho
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Idaho.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Idaho Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 5," accessed March 14, 2024
- ↑ NBC News, "GOP efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting extend to state ballot measures," September 14, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 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 - ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Filing," accessed April 9, 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Idaho Secretary of State, "Idaho Voter Registration Form," accessed July 29, 2024
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Idaho Secretary of State, "Citizenship & Voting," accessed July 29, 2024
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Idaho Secretary of State - Vote Idaho, "Registering To Vote," accessed July 30, 2024
- ↑ Cornell Law School, "18 U.S. Code § 611 - Voting by aliens," accessed March 26, 2020
- ↑ Reuters, "New York judge rules law allowing noncitizens to vote for mayor is unconstitutional," June 27, 2022
- ↑ Idaho Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 5," accessed March 14, 2024
- ↑ Idaho Statutes, "Section 34-1101," accessed July 29, 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."
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