November 6, 2024
A statement from Dr. Andy Jackson, Director of Locke’s Civitas Center for Public Integrity, on the passage of the Citizen-Only Voting Amendment to the North Carolina state constitution:
“Who may or may not vote is a fundamental question for our republic, one that should be unambiguously answered in our state constitution. The citizen-only voting amendment is a welcome clarification of our constitutional language that only United States citizens may vote in our elections. It protects that fundamental understanding from future temporary legislative or judicial majorities who may seek to make their majority permanent by altering the voting pool. In addition, the new language includes natural-born citizens who were born overseas, a class of American citizens who were excluded under the old constitutional language.”