Hawkeye Reporter

The Iowa House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Only Citizens Voting Amendment, which would clarify that only U.S. citizens are permitted to participate in elections in Iowa.

It passed the House unanimously, 96-0, with bipartisan support after clearing the Senate with similar support in March 2021, a state legislative site reported.  It had earlier passed the Senate unanimously, 45-0.

The action elicited praise from the Americans for Citizen Voting advocacy group.

“The bipartisan and unanimous votes in both the Iowa House and Senate reflect what we've seen in our polls and the reality on the ground,” the group’s President Chris Arps told Hawkeye Reporter. “Regardless of ideology or party affiliation, there is overwhelming support for Citizen Only Voting in Iowa."

Senate Joint Resolution 9 is a proposal to amend the Constitution of Iowa to clarify that only U.S. Citizens are permitted to participate in elections in the state. Iowa is one of several states that are following the path that Congress took regarding federal elections. In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility act, which prohibited non-citizens from voting in federal elections for president, the U.S. House or U.S. Senate. The law did not address non-citizens voting in state or local elections, a Cornell University law school website explains. 

Legal language regarding elections varies by state. For example, the Maryland Constitution states that “every citizen of the United States, of the age of 18 years or upwards, who is a resident of the State as of the time for the closing of registration next preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote in the ward or election district in which the citizen resides at all elections to be held in this State”. Several municipalities in Maryland have subsequently extended voting rights to non-citizens as well. 

Ballotpedia analysis reveals that a number other states do not currently have clear language specifying that only citizens are eligible to vote and note that several municipalities across the country have moved to allow non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections. 

That said, Ballotpedia also mentions that some states, like Colorado, have passed amendments clarifying the citizen voting language. Colorado’s Amendment 76, also called the Citizenship Requirement for Voting Initiative, was approved as a constitutional amendment by the state’s voters in Nov. 2020. It changed language that “every citizen” can vote in Colorado to “only a citizen” can vote. The Amendment won 63 percent of the vote. 

Constitutional amendments proposed by the Iowa Legislature must be passed by two consecutive legislatures, before being voted upon by a statewide referendum. If all three votes are successful, the amendment would be enacted.