LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Kentucky voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday night revising the state's constitution to ban noncitizens from voting in state elections.
The ballot measure, called Amendment 1, passed with more than 60% of the votes, as of about 9 p.m.
Some have called the measure redundant, as Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams told lawmakers earlier this year that his office's policy is not to allow noncitizens to vote.
And federal law already bans noncitizens from voting in federal races, like presidential or Congressional races.
But supporters said it was a preventative measure to stop any community from allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections in the future.
While federal election law is clear on a citizen voting requirement, there are a handful of cities like San Francisco, California, allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections like school board races.
Kentucky joined seven other states asking voters to explicitly prohibit noncitizen from voting in all elections. Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, North Carolina, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina all have similar issues on the ballot
The amendment adds the following sentence to Kentucky's constitution: "No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in this state."
This story may be updated.
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