West Virginia voters approve noncitizen voting constitutional amendment

West Virginia voters have approved an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting non-citizens from voting in state elections.

The Associated Press called the race for Amendment 1 at 8:43 p.m. Tuesday. At the time, 78.8% of voters supported the measure and 21.2% rejected it, according to unofficial election results from 73% of precincts counted.  

West Virginia state code already requires that only United States citizens cast votes in elections. Proponents of Amendment 1 said the state’s constitution is less clear: it requires voters to be citizens of the state, but does not specify that they be U.S. citizens. 

West Virginia Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, one of the sponsors of Senate Joint Resolution 9, which proposed the amendment, during the 2026 legislative session, told reporters in September that the legal prohibition isn’t enough because “laws can change.” 

“This proposed amendment would ensure that no future Legislature could just simply change the election law with only a bill,” she said. “It also gives us greater authority to enforce the law we currently have in place.”

In a written statement Tuesday, Rucker said she was “proud that West Virginia’s voters chose to protect the integrity of our elections tonight with their yes vote on Amendment 1. 

“The right to vote, especially as (a) naturalized United States citizen, is something I hold close to my heart,” Rucker said in the statement. “Tonight’s result ensures that all West Virginians can be confident that only United States citizens are participating in our elections, and that can’t be changed by any future Legislature or city deciding otherwise. This amendment strengthens our elections and helps preserve the freedoms we all hold dear.”

Besides Rucker, Senate Joint Resolution 9 was also sponsored by Sens. Chris Rose, R-Monongalia; Darren Thorne, R-Hampshire; Amy Grady, R-Mason; Craig Hart, R-Mingo; Laura Chapman, R-Ohio; Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston; Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, Eric Tarr, R-Putnam; Jay Taylor, R-Taylor; Charles Clements, R-Wetzel; Trenton Barnhart, R-Pleasants; and Mark Maynard, R-Wayne. 

With the amendment passed, the West Virginia constitution will read as follows: 

“Only citizens of the United States who are citizens of this state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the counties in which they respectively reside; but a person who is a minor, or who has been declared mentally incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction, or who is under conviction of treason, felony or bribery in an election, or who has not been a resident of the state and of the county in which he or she offers to vote, for 30 days next preceding such offer, shall not be permitted to vote while such disability continues; and, a person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States shall not be deemed a resident of this state by reason of being stationed therein.”

According to Americans for Citizen Voting, an organization that works to pass citizen-only amendments around the country, 15 states have amended their constitutions to prohibit non-citizens from voting in local, state and federal elections.

The amendment was opposed by, among others, the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, who said it was unnecessary and “perpetuates long-debunked conspiracy theories and scapegoats our immigrant neighbors to sow mistrust in our election results.”