The Constitution and the Question of Noncitizen Voting

April 6, 2026

(from the April 6, 2026, Wall Street Journal Article: “The Constitution Could Let Noncitizens Vote”)

“…The Constitution is clear: Under Article I and the 17th Amendment, any person who is allowed to vote in a state legislative election is automatically also allowed to vote for members of Congress. A federal statute can’t trump the Constitution’s explicit, exclusive grant of power to each state to determine who is eligible to vote.

Although no state allows noncitizens to vote for its legislature, that could change. A state law allowing noncitizens to vote for the state legislature would automatically, as per the Constitution, make noncitizens in that state eligible to vote for Congress, even if the SAVE America Act were passed.

The only way to close the loophole is with a constitutional amendment. Rep. Laurel Lee (R, Fla.) has introduced House Joint Resolution 152, a constitutional amendment that reads: ‘Only citizens of the United States may qualify to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice-President, for electors for President or Vice-President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress.”

Read the entire article here.