“The purpose of this resolution is just codifying in conjunction with what the federal law is in the state of West Virginia. That’s pretty simple. We did it last year. It passed overwhelmingly both in the House and the Senate. We just ran out of time on the last day.”

— Delegate Scot Heckert

(from the February 18, 2025 Parkersberg News and Sentinel article “West Virginia House committee advances constitutional amendment barring non-citizens from voting”)

The House Standing Judiciary Committee Monday morning moved House Joint Resolution 13 to amend the Constitution to prohibit persons who are not U.S.citizens from voting in any election in this state to the second step of its new two-step process for reviewing bills. Committee members will begin the markup and discussion phase for the bill at its next meeting.

HJR 13 would modify Article IV, Section 1 of the state Constitution. The proposed amendment explicitly states that non-citizens are ineligible to vote and clarifies existing voting eligibility requirements in State Code, emphasizing citizenship as a prerequisite.

The joint resolution would need to be adopted by both the full House and state Senate by a two-thirds vote of each body, then be ratified by voters in the next general election. The amendment is designated “Amendment 1” or the “Citizens Voting Amendment.”

Read the entire article here.