Idaho constitutional amendment to declare English as state’s official language passes

Idaho voters widely approved amending the Idaho Constitution to declare English as the state’s official language.

The Associated Press declared at 10:32 p.m. Wednesday that the amendment, which was proposed by the Idaho Legislature last year, passed.

The amendment received support from 58.86% of Idaho voters, with about 200,000 votes, while 41.14% of voters opposed it, with roughly 140,000 votes, according to unofficial election results from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office at 10:43 p.m. Tuesday. Half of Idaho’s 44 counties were fully reporting election results by then.

State law already lists English as the state’s official language. Some critics say it’s unclear whether the amendment will end broader exceptions in state law that allowed governments to communicate in other languages, such as in law enforcement and public health situations. 

Here’s how the amendment will look in the Constitution: “The English language shall be the official language for the state of Idaho. Except as required by federal law, English shall be used in all public proceedings, public documents, public instruction, and any other public acts of any public institution in the state of Idaho.”

Thirty states have declared English as their official language, according to Ballotpedia. In 2025, President Donald Trump declared English as the nation’s official language in an executive order. 

In Idaho, Hispanics make up about 13% of the state’s population, and the state has welcomed thousands of refugees in recent years. Over the last decade, the state’s Hispanic population grew faster, by 25%, than the state’s overall population, which rose by 10%, according to statistics from the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. About 11% of Idahoans speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

To pass, Idaho’s amendment needed support from at least 50% of voters.

Tuesday’s general election results won’t become official until the State Board of Canvassers certifies the election results. The canvass is scheduled to occur in the coming weeks. 

How the amendment would work

The amendment’s legislative sponsor, Republican Rep. Dale Hawkins, said the amendment is intended to encourage people to learn English. But in Idaho, an agricultural state with a high population of Hispanic people, some worry that the lack of clarity around the amendment could make it harder for some residents to run their businesses, know what’s going on in their children’s schools or to stay up to date about what’s happening in their communities.

Hawkins said lawmakers had worked on the proposed Idaho amendment with the Trump administration.

“One of the things that unites us all as a culture, as a country, as a state, is language. And we see more and more people that are moving to the United States …” Hawkins said in an October interview. “And what used to be the desired effect, which was assimilation — learn the language, learn the culture, learn the history — those things have slipped away. And we don’t see assimilation anymore. And I believe that if we have a common language, then our culture will survive.”

The proposed constitutional amendment’s only exception allows the government to use other languages when required by federal law, such as in schools and, in some cases, election administration. 

University of Idaho law professor Richard Seamon previously told the Idaho Capital Sun that the amendment’s impact is not clear.

“If it said ‘only English,’ then I think it would clearly, pretty clearly, override these exceptions, and eliminate them,” Seamon said. “But it doesn’t say only … So I think that leaves room for discussion about the extent to which these exceptions will still apply.”

Hawkins said the proposed amendment is written to be more restrictive than the state law on purpose, and that it should override the state law.

Hawkins said whether some of the law’s exceptions would remain, such as the use of other languages by law enforcement soliciting tips to find a missing child or health officials informing the public about an infectious disease outbreak, should be handled on a case-by-case approach.

“Each one of those exceptions would have to be, for lack of a better term, studied and to make sure that we’re not creating loopholes so that we have no effect,” Hawkins said.