Republicans in the state House want an amendment to the state constitution that says non-citizens can't vote in North Carolina — even though that prohibition is already in state law.
If the proposed constitutional amendment passes the legislature, voters will then decide on the issue in the November election. It's the sort of question that could help drive turnout among Republican voters.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, notes that only citizens can legally vote here, but he worries that without a constitutional amendment a judge might interpret the law differently.
"There are somewhere around 16 or so towns and cities in the United States that currently do allow non-citizens to vote in elections," Hall said.
The bill passed its first House committee hearing on Wednesday. House Speaker Tim Moore said it'll likely get a floor vote in the next week or so.
"The concern is looking down the road, and we're seeing what's happened in some other states where some activist judges have come in and tried to find loopholes to allow non-citizens to vote," Moore said. "And we just need to shut the door on that very clearly."
Democrats say the amendment isn't needed and might lead voters to think that non-citizens are currently voting.
"My biggest concern about this is, why is it necessary? It may cause public confusion, it may be expensive to add it to the ballot," said Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford. "We actually have pretty clear state law right now and pretty clear constitutional provisions that non-citizens can't vote."
Democrats file public records amendment
Democrats have proposed a different constitutional amendment to put on the ballot this November.
The proposal, filed in both the Senate and House this week, would enshrine access to public records and open government meetings in the state constitution. The amendment would say that only “a compelling public interest” would allow government officials to deny access to records or meetings.
“I would say that there is no better time than today to try and increase the public's right to public records and public meetings,” said Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange and one of the sponsors, “because we stand at a crucial moment for sustaining some of the fundamental tenets of democracy.”
The proposed amendment comes in response to a provision in last year’s budget that exempts state legislators from the public records requirements followed by every other branch of government in North Carolina.
“I would suggest that that rollback on public access to public records is the most significant rollback of public records by any state government in recent memory,” Meyer said.
The proposed amendment is unlikely to move forward, and Meyer said he was unsuccessful in persuading any Republicans to sign on as co-sponsors. But he noted that several of his GOP colleagues sponsored a similar amendment over a decade ago.
