Ballot Amendment 1: Preserving our elections

Are you ready to cast your ballot in this year’s General Election? This year’s ballot includes two proposed constitutional amendments for your consideration. The first proposed amendment on this year’s ballot would allow Kentuckians to vote on a constitutional amendment aimed at closing a loophole that could allow non-citizens to vote in elections.

The current Kentucky Constitution is 133 years old and our state’s fourth. It is one of the longest state constitutions in the nation, with over 260 sections. Its overly long because it includes detailed provisions that other states address through legislation rather than in a constitution. The document is significant not only for how old and long it is, but also for the way it reflects the social and political priorities and culture of the late 19th century. For example, the original version limited voting rights to white males age 21 and over. And while it has been amended more than 40 times since 1891, much of its language is still outdated.

Lawmakers sent the first proposed amendment to the ballot this year by approving SB 143 with a vote of 31-4 in the Senate and 72-12 in the House. It emphasizes the importance of preserving our elections, as voting is one of our most important rights, and we have an obligation to protect it. I appreciate my colleagues taking a stand and passing this measure. I believe it is crucial that only U.S. citizens vote in elections. After all, we are the ones who live here, follow the laws, and care about what happens. Letting only citizens vote helps ensure decisions are fair and protect everyone. To be clear, this does not mean we do not appreciate the role of legal immigrants; it simply means we do not want guests making decisions for residents. Early Americans made it clear that we will not accept governing decisions made by people who do not live here.

Before I continue, I want to emphasize that there have been no reported cases of non-citizens voting in Kentucky elections. However, it has become an issue in other states, and last year, an appeals court in California upheld a city’s decision to allow non-citizens to vote in school board elections.

The proposed amendment would apply to sections 145 and 155 of the Constitution. I understand the language is confusing because it is written to meet legal requirements set by the Kentucky Supreme Court. The actual amendment reads: NO PERSON WHO IS NOT A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES SHALL BE ALLOWED TO VOTE IN THIS STATE.

This is how it will appear on the ballot. I’ve capitalized the proposed new words; the rest are existing constitutional provisions:

Ballot Question: Are you in favor of amending Sections 145 and 155 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit persons who are not citizens of the United States from being allowed to vote in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as stated below?

Every citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen years who has resided in the state one year, and in the county six months, and the precinct in which he or she offers to vote sixty days next preceding the election, shall be a voter in said precinct and not elsewhere. No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in this state. The following persons also shall not have the right to vote:

1. Persons convicted in any court of competent jurisdiction of treason, or felony, or bribery in an election, or of such high misdemeanor as the General Assembly may declare shall operate as an exclusion from the right of suffrage, but persons hereby excluded may be restored to their civil rights by executive pardon.

2. Persons who, at the time of the election, are in confinement under the judgment of a court for some penal offense.

3. Idiots and insane persons.

It is proposed that section 155 of the Constitution of Kentucky be amended to read as follows:

The provisions of Sections 145 to 154, inclusive, shall not apply to the election of school trustees and other common school district elections. Said elections shall be regulated by the General Assembly, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in said elections.

Remember, only the part that is capitalized is new; the rest is already in the constitution. A “yes” vote means that you support requiring that a voter in these elections be a citizen of the United States.