Oklahoma becomes sixth state to put a constitutional amendment on Nov. 2024 ballot providing that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections

Oklahoma voters will join Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, and Wisconsin voters in deciding on ballot questions to add language to their respective state constitutions to provide that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections. All six ballot questions were placed on the Nov. 2024 ballot by Republican-controlled state legislatures.

Similar measures were on the statewide ballot in North Dakota (2018), Colorado (2020), Alabama (2020), Florida (2020), Ohio (2022), and Louisiana (2022). All six were approved with at least 62.9% of the vote.

Currently, the Oklahoma Constitution says, “Subject to such exceptions as the Legislature may prescribe, all citizens of the United States, over the age of eighteen (18) years, who are bona fide residents of this state, are qualified electors of this state.”

Approval of the amendment would change the constitution to say instead, “Subject to such exceptions as the Legislature may prescribe, only citizens of the United States who are over the age of eighteen (18) years and who are bona fide residents of this state are qualified electors of this state.”

In Oklahoma, a constitutional amendment requires a simple majority vote in both chambers of the Oklahoma State Legislature.

The constitutional amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 23. It was approved in the Senate on May 30, 2024, by a vote of 37-7. The House approved the amendment on the same day by a vote of 71-11. The amendment was approved along partisan lines with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

Following the resolution’s passage in the state legislature, the Association of Mature American Citizens Action (AMAC), released a statement saying, “Following a coordinated outreach campaign from AMAC members, the Oklahoma State Senate on Thursday passed SJR-23, which would amend the Oklahoma State Constitution to clarify that only citizens may vote in the state’s elections. In total, AMAC members sent 77 messages to Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat urging him to bring this legislation to the floor for a vote.”

AMAC Action President Bob Carlstrom said, “Kudos to the Oklahoma Senate and especially to AMAC’s Oklahoma members. First, our members engaged in banning ranked-choice voting and now they helped to pass a resolution to amend the state’s constitution to ensure that only U.S. citizens may vote in Oklahoma’s elections. Their passion for free and fair elections is truly inspirational and demonstrates how citizen advocacy can make a huge difference.”

The amendment is the second amendment placed on the 2024 ballot by the state legislature. Voters will also decide on an amendment that would allow municipalities to create public infrastructure districts when all property owners within the proposed district sign a petition and allow public infrastructure districts to issue bonds for public improvements if approved by voters within the district.

From 2000 to 2020, 56 legislatively referred constitutional amendments appeared on the ballot in Oklahoma. Of the 56 amendments, voters approved 43 (76.79%) and rejected 13 (23.21%). An average of four or five legislatively referred amendments appeared on the ballot during even-numbered years from 2000 to 2020. The last time the state legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot was in 2020. The measure, which would have redirected Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) money to secure federal funding for Medicaid, was defeated.