West Virginia voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to add an explicit U.S.-citizenship requirement to the state Constitution, a change that would constitutionalize a qualification already contained in state voter-registration law.
Amendment 1, formally titled the “Citizenship Requirement to Vote in West Virginia Elections Amendment,” is the only proposed constitutional amendment on the statewide general-election ballot. The Secretary of State’s Oct. 1 explanation says a simple majority of votes cast on the question is required for passage. If approved, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution upon ratification.
The proposed text would revise Article IV, Section 1 to say that only citizens of the United States who are also citizens of West Virginia may vote in elections held within the state. The current provision refers to “citizens of the state” but does not expressly use the phrase “citizens of the United States.” The amendment would preserve the section’s other qualifications and disqualifications, including its 30-day residency rule.
The measure reached the ballot through Senate Joint Resolution 9. The Legislature’s official history shows that both chambers completed action in March. West Virginia voters cannot initiate statewide ballot measures themselves; the Legislature refers proposed constitutional amendments to voters.
The proposal would not create a new citizenship check for registration. West Virginia Code §3-2-2 already requires a registration applicant to be a U.S. citizen and a legal resident of West Virginia and the county where the person applies. Federal law separately prohibits noncitizen voting in federal elections. The ballot question concerns where the state requirement appears and the higher legal status that constitutional language would carry.
Secretary of State Kris Warner has emphasized that his office’s role is administrative rather than legislative: once lawmakers approve a proposed amendment, election officials must place it on every statewide ballot and administer the vote. The secretary’s office published the formal ballot title, purpose summary and full proposed text in July.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported Oct. 1 that no state permits noncitizens to vote in statewide elections and that at least 18 states have citizenship requirements in their constitutions. Some municipalities outside West Virginia have adopted different rules for local-only elections, but Amendment 1 addresses elections held within West Virginia under state constitutional authority.
For voters, a “yes” vote supports replacing the Constitution’s existing state-citizenship phrasing with the explicit dual requirement of U.S. and West Virginia citizenship. A “no” vote leaves Article IV, Section 1 unchanged; the statutory U.S.-citizenship requirement for voter registration would remain in effect either way.
The distinction is important because the ballot measure does not determine eligibility for the upcoming election in which it appears. Existing law governs voter registration and participation on Nov. 3. The amendment instead asks whether the Constitution itself should state the citizenship rule expressly for future state and local elections.
