RALEIGH, N.C. — Voting is a fundamental right for citizens of the United States, and that right is guaranteed in our state constitution.
What You Need to Know
North Carolinians can vote on a change of wording in the state constitution this election cycle
The proposed amendment would change the wording to specify only U.S. citizens can vote
The initiative easily passed through the General Assembly
Some people are worried naturalized citizens who immigrated to this country won’t realize they still have the right to vote
This year, every voter gets to cast a ballot for a change in wording to our constitution saying specifically that only U.S. citizens can vote.
“The most important thing that voters need to know about is they have the chance to amend our constitution,” said state Sen. Brad Overcash.
Overcash, a Republican from Gaston County, sponsored the bill to put this issue on the ballot.
“We were seeing this swath of municipalities and seven different states allowing non-citizens to vote in our election,” Overcash said. “That struck us as fundamentally wrong, as very much contrary to our ways of our constitutional republic.”
The constitution currently says, “Every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized… shall be entitled to vote at any election.”
But lawmakers like Overcash are trying to change the wording to say, “Only a citizen of the United States… shall be entitled to vote at any election.”
It's a small distinction without changing what is already in practice under the current wording.
“I understand what our constitution currently means with ‘every citizen is allowed to vote,’” Overcash said. “That doesn't mean non-citizens could vote in any reasonable person's mind. But we've had a couple of court cases that have said otherwise. And so this is just bringing clarification and clarity to the state of North Carolina.”
However, some U.S. citizens who immigrated to this country are worried about the implications of the proposed amendment.
“[It] is very dangerous for immigrant community because it opened the door for confusion,” Mario Alfaro said. “A lot of folks right now are thinking that if North Carolina moves forward with these proposal of constitutional amendment, they will lose their fundamental right to vote.”
Alfaro is a policy manager at El Pueblo, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the Latino community.
“I can try to explain all the things happening here in Raleigh in the simple language and share that information with my community,” Alfaro said. “Because there is their right to be informed and make decisions.”
His worry is that naturalized citizens won’t understand they are still allowed to vote if this amendment is approved by voters.
“It looks like a very innocent question,” Alfaro said. “But behind these, it's a national effort to disfranchise voters and naturalized U.S. citizens.”
Ultimately, he says education is key. Whether this amendment is ingrained into our constitution or not, he wants to encourage citizens in minority communities in the United States to exercise their right to vote.
In order to get on the ballot, the amendment needed approval of three-fifths of all lawmakers in the General Assembly. This initiative easily passed that threshold. It will just need a majority vote of all North Carolinians in order for the amendment to be put in our constitution.