Wed. Nov 6th, 2024

A "Vote Here sign" is on display during the general election on Nov. 5, 2024, at Lowell Elementary School in Boise

A “Vote Here sign” is on display during the general election on Nov. 5, 2024, at Lowell Elementary School in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)

A proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution to ban noncitizens from voting in Idaho elections appeared to be leading, according to early partial, unofficial election results released Tuesday night by the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.

Early election results at 11:58 p.m. Tuesday night showed Idaho voters supported the constitutional amendment — proposed by the Idaho Legislature this year — with 64.6% of the vote, or 409,866 votes, while 35.4% of voters opposed it with 224,859 votes, according to unofficial election results from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office. Twelve of Idaho’s 44 counties were fully reporting election results by then.

The Idaho Constitution already required U.S. citizenship for people to be considered qualified electors, referring to eligible voters. But proponents of the amendment noted that the Idaho Constitution doesn’t specifically exclude noncitizens.

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Similar to ballot measures in seven other states, Idaho’s amendment came as a handful of local governments across the U.S. have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections, and after years of election security fears fueled in part by false claims about droves of noncitizens voting in federal elections.

Tuesday’s general election results won’t become official until the State Board of Canvassers certifies the election results. The canvass is scheduled to occur Nov. 26 at the Statehouse in Boise, said Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane.

Idaho Secretary of State removing 36 likely noncitizens as registered voters, says some voted

In October, Idaho state Rep. Kevin Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, told the Idaho Capital Sun he proposed the amendment to make sure that Idaho law is clear: That noncitizens can’t vote in government elections.

But some Democrat state lawmakers worried 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 and parent teacher associations.

Andrus has said private elections wouldn’t be affected by the amendment, and said that wasn’t his intent.

No state lets noncitizens vote in statewide elections, according to a March article by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

According to the organization, municipalities in three states and Washington, D.C., let noncitizens vote in some local elections, such as school board elections in San Francisco, and municipal elections in cities in Maryland and Vermont.

Idaho is not among those states. But Idaho’s proposed constitutional amendment, Andrus previously said, would preemptively block any Idaho localities from potentially allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections.

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