FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republican lawmakers want to amend the state constitution and make it clear that non-U.S. citizens are not able to vote. 

What You Need To Know

  • This bill would explicitly say noncitizens cannot vote

  • It would require a constitutional amendment to become law, meaning it’s up to the voters to decide

  • Senate Bill 143 passed through committee Wednesday, an identical bill has been passed by the House

  • Currently some cities in the country allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, none are in Kentucky

Senate Bill 143 went before a Senate committee on Feb. 7. Sponsored by State Rep. Jason Howell, R-Murray, the two-page bill explicitly bars noncitizens from voting. The measure easily passed and now heads to the full Senate for further action.

State Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville,a Harvard law school graduate, believes those individuals already can’t vote in elections.  (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily precautionary, but it’s something that cleans up language,” Howell said. “The constitution, as it’s presently written, sets a floor. It requires you to be a U.S. citizen to vote, but it doesn’t stop anyone expressly that’s not a U.S. citizen from voting.”

It’s that interpretation that split support on this issue. Louisville Democrat Cassie Chambers Armstrong, a Harvard law school graduate, believes those individuals already can’t vote in elections. 

“I worry that we are passing a lot of legislation this session focused on hypothetical problems that might spring up when we have real problems in our communities right now,” Armstrong said as she explained her no vote on the bill.

State Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, is the sponsor of a bill that would explicitly prohibit non-U.S. citizens from voting. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

“We fall into a trap sometimes of being reactionary and not being forward thinking on things, and this bill drops this constitutional amendment to address this issue, before it became a reality,” Howell responded, explaining why this bill is necessary.

While noncitizens voting in elections hasn’t happened in Kentucky, it has in other states. One example is San Francisco. Last August, the California Court of Appeals upheld the city’s decision to allow noncitizens to vote in school board elections. 

“There are a lot of issues in life that are non-issues until they become issues until someone challenges something or someone tries something,” Howell said. “And this is something that is being tried and it is an issue in other places with the same language now.”

Last month the House passed an identical bill, which has been received by the state Senate.

In Kentucky, constitutional amendments are ultimately decided by voters. Should this bill be passed by the legislature, it will end up on the November ballot. This year several constitutional amendment bills have been filed across both chambers, however state law only permits up to four being on the ballot.  

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