North Carolinians will vote in November on whether to amend the state constitution to clarify that only citizens can cast ballots, after the state legislature passed a measure late last month to punt the issue to voters.
Why it matters: Immigration has been and will continue to be a key issue in this election cycle, and Republican lawmakers' move to put it on the ballot will keep it front and center here.
Between the lines: Already, only citizens are allowed to vote in North Carolina, and whether or not a majority of voters approve the amendment in November won't change that.
Still , the GOP framing of the border crisis has hit home with Republicans and Democrats alike and could give them a leg up at the ballot box this year.
Meanwhile, former President Trump has claimed that waves of illegal immigrants are voting in our elections , though there's no evidence to support that.
How it works: On this year's ballot in North Carolina, voters will be able to approve or oppose a constitutional amendment that clarifies "only a citizen of the United States" can vote.
- As of now, the constitution states that "every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized" can vote.
- It's already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, but supporters of the change say it would make it "absolutely clear" that they cannot.
- "I feel like we're chasing a problem that doesn't exist," Democratic state Rep. Pricey Harrison said after Republicans began advancing the referendum, per the Associated Press .
State of play: Constitutional amendments cannot be vetoed by the governor and must pass the legislature with supermajorities in both chambers — 72 votes in the House and 30 in the Senate.
- The measure passed both chambers with bipartisan support and well over the threshold needed to make it on the ballot.
- Just four Democrats voted against the measure in the Senate; 12 did so in the House.
The intrigue: Republicans advanced four other constitutional amendments that ultimately didn't make it through the legislature to the ballot.
- Those that didn't pass were: A repeal of literacy test rules (though they had already been outlawed), restriction of the governor's power, new voter ID rules for absentee voters and an income tax cap of 5%.
- "The main amendment that we wanted to see pass was the non-citizen voting," House Speaker Tim Moore said, per WRAL.
Zoom out: The U.S. House also voted last week to ban non-citizen voting by requiring voters to present proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, though the measure is likely dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, Reuters reports .
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