In November, Idaho voters will consider an amendment to the Idaho Constitution that would ban non-U.S. citizens from voting in Idaho elections.
The Idaho Constitution already requires U.S. citizenship for people to be considered qualified electors.
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane told the Idaho Capital Sun, that in Idaho elections, noncitizens have only attempted to vote “handfuls” of times — “not large scale numbers.”
Idaho’s amendment — proposed by the Idaho Legislature this year — comes after years of election security fears fueled in part by false claims about droves of noncitizens voting in federal elections.
Idaho state Rep. Kevin Andrus said he proposed the amendment to make sure that Idaho law is clear: That noncitizens can not vote in government elections.
But some Democratic state lawmakers worry the amendment could be interpreted to block noncitizens — even immigrants who are legally in the U.S., but aren’t citizens — from voting in private elections, like homeowner’s associations (HOAs) and parent teacher associations (PTAs).
