Wisconsin Voters Could Do Something They Haven’t Done in 29 Years

Three proposed amendments to Wisconsin’s Constitution have not been rejected in one year since 1995. But several statewide groups are arguing that the third proposed change to the state’s charter to go before voters this year should be rejected Nov. 5.

Republicans who control the Legislature placed this question on ballots statewide:

Should…[the Constitution] be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or on a statewide or local referendum?

The state Constitution currently says that every U.S. citizen 18 or older may vote in Wisconsin.

Before they go before voters, proposed constitutional changes must pass two successive sessions of the Legislature. No Democrats voted for the change in the final Senate and Assembly votes last November that placed it on the statewide ballot.

Sponsors of the one-word change – from “every” to “only” – say it’s necessary to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal, state and local Wisconsin elections. It’s part of the national debate over immigrants and immigration policy between presidential candidates Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, chief Assembly sponsor of the change, said  Wisconsin Republicans want to make “crystal clear” that foreign nationals can’t vote in the state.

“While (the state constitution) says every U.S. citizen can vote, we want to make sure that can’t be interpreted to mean every U.S. citizen plus all these other folks,” August told an Associated Press reporter.

Reports of noncitizens voting in other states is a reason for the amendment, August added.

Republican Sen. Julian Bradley was the amendment’s chief Senate sponsor.

On Friday, top Republicans – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, Congressman Bryan Steil and GOP legislators – rallied in the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale to ask for a yes vote on the amendment.

A Pew Research Center report estimated the nation’s foreign-born population in 2023 at a record 47.8 million and said, in 2022, 77% of all immigrants were in the country legally and 23% were unauthorized immigrants.

Wisconsin Family Action, which says it advocates for “issues that strengthen, preserve, and promote marriage, family, the sanctity of life, and religious liberty,” wants the change passed.

“Wisconsin Family Action, along with the vast majority of people, believe that voting should only be eligible for U.S. citizens,” said Family Action President Daniel Degner.

Groups trying to defeat the change note that voters in the August primary killed two other Republican-sponsored constitutional amendments that would have weakened the governor’s budget powers.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin calls the proposed amendment “a way for lawmakers to further restrict our freedom to vote.”

“Wisconsin already has safe and secure elections and safeguards in place to ensure only eligible voters are voting,” the League adds.

“This amendment uses fear as a tactic to further divide us. No matter where we were born or what language we speak, all eligible Wisconsin voters are afforded the right to cast a ballot and make their voice heard. This anti-voter amendment … could open the door to discriminatory practices, disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.”

The Wisconsin Council of Churches also urges a no vote.

“if voting by non-U.S. citizens is already prohibited by the Wisconsin Constitution and our state statutes, and it is a felony for a non-U.S. citizen to vote in a Wisconsin election, why is the proposed constitutional amendment necessary, and why is it being proposed?” the Council says, adding:

“The answer … is obvious: the amendment is not necessary; it simply does not accomplish any legal objective to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting. Indeed, it is difficult not to see the proposed constitutional amendment — which was passed solely by the Wisconsin Legislature and is not subject to a gubernatorial veto — as one that is designed solely for political purposes.”

“There is no problem with noncitizens voting,” said Jeff Mandell, an attorney with the liberal nonprofit law firm Law Forward. “[The amendment] is the very definition of a solution in search of a problem.”

If you’re curious, in April 1995, Wisconsin voters defeated constitutional changes that would have removed some “masculine gender” language in the Constitution, dedicated money raised by a sports lottery for athletic facilities and lifted restrictions on what offices judges who had resigned could hold.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com.