There are more ballot measures this election year than ever before aimed at banning noncitizen voting in local elections, and Republicans are emphasizing them to try to motivate their base to go to the polls.
Voters in eight states, including the battlegrounds Wisconsin and North Carolina, will decide if their state’s constitution should specify that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections. Noncitizen voting is already illegal in federal elections, and research shows improper noncitizen voting rarely happens. But the question has shown up more frequently on statewide ballots since 2018, as Republicans have increasingly fearmongered over election security and immigration.
Republican candidates in states with noncitizen voting ballot measures are campaigning on the issue. In Missouri, Rep. Eric Burlison said he is backing the statewide measure “because Democrats refuse to secure our elections at the federal level,” referencing Democrats “shamefully” voting against the SAVE Act.