What is Kentucky Amendment 1? Breaking down the ballot question ahead of November election

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- When Kentucky voters get to the polling booths this November, they'll be faced with two questions about constitutional amendments.

The one garnering the most attention is Amendment 2, which has to do with school vouchers and tax dollars for private schools. But the other is Amendment 1, and it's far less known.

If passed, the amendment would add 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."

Ron Worley is just one Kentucky voter who had never heard of the amendment.

"It just sounds redundant," said Worley, and it is. That's because you already have to be a citizen to vote in Kentucky, as Secretary of State Michael Adams assured lawmakers this summer.

"The policy of my office, the state Board of Elections, and our county clerks is that non-citizens are not allowed to vote in any Kentucky Election," Adams testified before an interim joint committee on state government in June.

But Kentucky is joining seven other states asking voters to alter the constitution to explicitly prohibit non citizen voting in all elections. Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, North Carolina, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina all have similar issues on the ballot

"The law is aimed at a preventative measure to stop any community who may look to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections in the future," said Tres Watson, spokesperson for Americans for Citizens Voting Kentucky.

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. While that doesn't happen in Kentucky. Amendment 1 would forbid it from even being considered.

Former Kentucky representative Attica Scott is part of a coalition of organizations rallying against Amendment 1, saying it won't change who votes, but would stoke flames of hate toward immigrants.

"Part of the fear is, now you've opened the door to enforcement questions, so will you start asking someone you think is an immigrant or a refugee to show us your papers when you go to vote? It doesn't make sense to me," Scott told WDRB on Tuesday.

Voting "yes" on Amendment 1 would add a sentence to the state's constitution, amending it to read as follows:

"It is proposed that Section 145 of the Constitution of Kentucky be amended to read as follows:

"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 judgement 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 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."

A "no" vote does not allow people who are not citizens to suddenly be able to vote in Kentucky, it just keeps the current language in place.

To read more about the amendment, click here.

To view a sample ballot for your county, click here. The deadline to register to vote in Kentucky has passed. To check your voter registration status, click here.

In-person, excused absentee voting in Jefferson County runs Oct. 23-25 and Oct. 28-30 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Phillips Lane. To look at in-person, excused absentee voting qualifications, click here.

In-person, no-excuse absentee/"early voting" starts Oct. 31 in Kentucky. To look at early voting locations and hours, click here. For information about mail-in absentee voting, click here.

Kentucky is still looking for poll workers and election officers. If you would like to volunteer to be an election officer, the last class is on Oct. 21. For more information, click here.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

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