AUSTIN – A pair of bills aimed at amending the Texas Constitution to clarify that voters residing in the Lone Star State must be U.S. citizens have been voted out of committee.
SJR 37 and its companion bill, HJR 161, are resolutions that seek to ensure only U.S. citizens can vote in Texas elections.
Yesterday, both measures reported favorably without any amendments, records show.
“It’s a good thing to see this important legislation advancing,” said Charlie Kolean, the Texas state director for Americans for Citizen Voting. “There is strong bipartisan support for ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in Texas elections — recent polling shows 88% of Texans agree with this principle. We have high hopes that these measures will receive broad support on the floor.
“This is truly an issue that both parties can come together on.”
During a public hearing on HJR 161 on Thursday, the measure’s sponsor, Rep. Candy Noble, said that Texas laws, elections and bond proposals should be decided by citizens and that protecting the sanctity of elections is a fundamental responsibility that voter confidence depends on.
Several cities and counties across the nation already allow non-citizens to cast votes in elections.
SJR 37 has passed the senate. If all Republican House members vote for the measure, eight Democrats also would need to support the bill for passage.
If the measure clears the House, the issue would then be in the hands of the voters.
A recent poll found that 88 percent of Texans believe only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in Texas elections.
In 2023, the Texas Legislature failed to pass a measure to ensure any of its municipalities could not join the growing list. Since then, 11 states have passed similar amendments.
During the last legislative session, ACV sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asserting that the amendment was needed because Article VI, Sections 1-2 of the Texas Constitution do not clearly prohibit non-citizens from voting.
The proposal would amend the state Constitution to add that persons who are not citizens of the U.S. shall not be allowed to vote in the state. It would be the fourth classification of people not allowed to vote. The other three are persons under 18 years of age, persons who have been determined mentally incompetent by a court and persons convicted of any felony.
If passed, the amendment would be placed before voters for the November 4, 2025, election. The ballot would be printed to permit voting for against the proposition that would say, “The constitutional amendment clarifying that a voter must be a United States citizen.”
In January, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick included a similar bill on his list of top 40 priority bills for the 89th legislative session. The difference between Birdwell’s Senate resolution and Patrick’s Senate Bill 16 is that the resolution would amend the state Constitution rather than just codify the mandate into law. Another legislative session down the road could pass another bill to change state code again. Changing the state Constitution gives the measure a few more levels of protection from that.
While non-Americans can’t vote in state or federal elections in Texas, the idea that non-citizens could vote in local and municipal elections is what Kolean’s group hopes to prevent.
In recent years, Americans for Citizen Voting has worked to have similar measures adopted in states. Last November, eight states (Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin) passed laws to keep non-citizens from voting. Neighboring Louisiana and Oklahoma already have passed such laws.
Currently, 20 states have laws to make sure only American citizens can vote in that state, and several other states – including Texas and neighboring Arkansas – are actively considering such legislation.