What to know about noncitizen voting and the November referendum question in Wisconsin

In addition to voting for president, members of Congress and state lawmakers on the Nov. 5 ballot, Wisconsin voters will see the fifth and final statewide referendum question of the year.

The question at the heart of the referendum, led by Republican lawmakers, is whether to prevent Wisconsin from allowing noncitizens to vote in the future. Cities in some states have allowed noncitizens to vote in local school board elections, for example, but nowhere in Wisconsin allows that.

Democrats and voting rights groups are concerned a simple change in wording — that "only" rather than "every" citizen can vote — could weaken how voting rights are laid out in the state constitution. They also worry the question will spur harmful rhetoric toward immigrants and lead voters to believe noncitizens are fraudulently voting in the state, which is extremely rare.

Here's an explanation of the referendum question, what noncitizen voting is, the groups on both sides of the referendum question, and why there have been so many referendum questions on Wisconsin's ballots this year:

What is the November referendum question in Wisconsin?

All voters will see the following question on their ballot, asking them to vote yes or no:

“Eligibility to vote. Shall section 1 of article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum?”

That section of the state constitution currently reads that "every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district." That means the wording would switch from "every" to "only," and clarify that applies to all elections and referendums, whether local, state or national.

What is noncitizen voting, and does Wisconsin allow it?

There's a federal law that prevents noncitizens from voting in federal elections, like for president. But some cities in states like Maryland, California and Washington, D.C., do allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. In San Francisco, for example, parents and guardians who aren't U.S. citizens can vote in school board elections.

There are no cities, towns or villages in Wisconsin that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. In 1848, Wisconsin did allow noncitizens to vote, but that ended around 1912. Voting rights in the state constitution have been amended multiple times to expand rights based on race, gender and age.

"If you declared an intent to become a citizen, that was sufficient for you to vote," explained Bree Grossi Wilde, executive director of the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which has researched referendum questions this year.

Has there been a push for noncitizen voting in Wisconsin?

There hasn't been a significant, recent push in Wisconsin to allow noncitizen voting in local communities. Still, it's an idea supported by Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera.

"It gives people a greater voice and greater accountability for our officials who, whether or not you vote, they have an obligation to represent everybody in the district," Neumann-Ortiz said. "The constitution is supposed to be about expanding rights. It's never supposed to be a place that limits rights."

Proposals to allow noncitizen voting in Wisconsin haven't come up in caucus discussions among Democratic lawmakers, according to state Sen. Mark Spreitzer, the top Democrat on the Senate elections committee.

"We're talking here about long-term permanent residents, green card holders, who just are not citizens but are very much citizens of the community they live in. They're going to go to the schools, they pay property taxes, they drive down the city streets, they're impacted by police and fire," Spreitzer said. "I absolutely understand the push and where folks are coming from, but I don't see this happening anytime soon."

Would the referendum prevent tribal members from voting in Wisconsin?

The Journal Sentinel received this question from a reader. If passed, the referendum would not prevent members of Wisconsin's tribal nations from voting. Tribal members are U.S. citizens, based on the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, and federal law supersedes state law.

Which groups support a 'yes' vote on the November referendum question?

Referendum questions are placed on the ballot by the state Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans. Among the Republican authors of the proposal is state Sen. Julian Bradley from New Berlin.

"If, in the future, people want to allow noncitizens to start voting, I think it should be very difficult to make that change. That's why we have a constitutional process that we have," Bradley said.

The language would be hard to change back because proposals to change the state constitution have to pass through the Legislature two sessions in a row before going to the voters.

Bradley used the example of people going on vacation or owning a business in another city who are still investing in the community without having voting rights there.

"If you want to vote in elections, then you have to declare your citizenship, and you have to go through the process," he said.

Wisconsin isn't the only state weighing in on the issue in November. Seven other states have similar questions on the ballot: Idaho, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

That national push has been led by a group called Americans for Citizen Voting, whose vice president for outreach, Jack Tomczak, noted the amendment was approved unanimously by Iowa's Legislature, while it received no votes from Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin.

"Most people assume that only citizens are allowed to vote as it is," he said. Most state constitutions refer to "'any' or 'all' or 'every' (citizen), and because we don't say 'only,' that leaves open the possibility of municipalities or even the state Legislature legalizing noncitizen voting."

Which groups support a 'no' vote on the November referendum question?

The Journal Sentinel talked to several liberal-leaning voting rights groups — including the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, All Voting is Local and Law Forward — that oppose the referendum question. One of their concerns is that switching out the word "every" would remove a broad guarantee of voting rights in the state.

"It seems like it takes one of the areas, but not the only area, of our constitution that protects the right to vote and tweaks it, without really explaining why or what's going to happen," said Dan Lenz, an attorney at Law Forward, which is focused on voting and redistricting lawsuits.

Bradley pushed back against that idea, arguing that narrowing the wording from "every" to "only" provides fewer chances to say there's room for interpretation in the constitution.

Voting rights groups are also worried the way the referendum question is written on the ballot doesn't explain to voters what the constitution currently says.

"The actual change to the constitutional language is not accurately reflected in the question that's being put in front of voters, which I have a problem with," said Debra Cronmiller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. "I think the language change, if enacted, would kind of move us from a ceiling to a floor."

Other Democrats argue the referendum is a "non-issue" because noncitizens already can't vote in Wisconsin and worry the misconception that they do could harm immigrants.

"If you vote no on this amendment, the status quo after November will be the same as it is today in that regard. There's not a problem to be solved here," Spreitzer said. "I think it's trying to create fear and trying to play to the Republican base."

Sam Liebert, the state director for All Voting is Local, sees the referendum as part of a nationally coordinated effort to use "racist tropes of migrants voting en masse," which could encourage violence against immigrants.

Is there any documented noncitizen voting fraud in Wisconsin elections?

Noncitizens attempting to vote in Wisconsin elections is extremely rare. In testimony before the state Legislature, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said it has been made aware of only four alleged cases of election fraud related to citizenship since the agency was created in 2015.

One of those cases happened in Mequon last year, when a Ukrainian woman was charged with a felony after voting in a school board election. She said it was a misunderstanding and her daughter filled out the voter registration form due to her limited English abilities. Her case will be dismissed if she follows the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Bradley, the Republican lawmaker leading the constitutional amendment, said the referendum is not about election fraud and it's "great" that WEC has found only a low number of cases.

"This (referendum) is all about shoring up the constitution and making sure that the intent of the framers is actually being carried out," he said.

Some Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, have falsely claimed that millions of immigrants are being registered to vote.

Neumann-Ortiz, from Voces de la Frontera, worries the referendum question will lead to anti-immigrant perceptions because it "(implies) that people who are noncitizens are voting in elections, which they are not."

Is proof of citizenship required to vote in Wisconsin?

No, though a document verifying your address called proof of residence is required when registering to vote. But voting rights groups are concerned that the amendment will lead to Wisconsin requiring proof of citizenship to vote, a law that has been struck down or not enforced in some states that have it.

About one in 10 voters would have trouble producing a document that proves their citizenship — like a birth certificate, passport or naturalization papers — because they might be lost, destroyed or kept in a family member's home or safe, according to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice.

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Bradley said proof of citizenship is a separate issue, and "the opponents of this are trying to tie the two together to cause confusion." A previous Republican-led bill that would have required the WEC to validate voters' citizenship status was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who noted the federal database has caused errors elsewhere.

The first checkbox on Wisconsin's voter registration form asks whether the voter is a U.S. citizen. Making a false claim of citizenship to an election official to register to vote is a felony and can lead to fines and jail time.

"Nobody knows about felonies better than people who are looking to not be deported. They're staying away from things that can be even remotely seen as an illegal act," said Cronmiller from the League of Women Voters.

Why are there so many referendum questions in Wisconsin this year?

This is the final statewide referendum question posed to Wisconsin voters in 2024. In April, voters approved two referendum questions that now prevent clerks from using outside funding and resources to run elections. In August, voters rejected referendums that would have limited the governor's ability to spend federal funds.

That represents split outcomes for Republicans, who control the Legislature and placed the questions on the ballot. Democrats messaged heavily against the August questions, but attention hasn't yet ramped up to the same level against the November referendum.

Grossi Wilde, from UW-Madison's State Democracy Research Initiative, said this type of constitutional amendment is more common when state government is divided. While Evers can veto a bill, governors can't block constitutional amendments.

Looking back at Wisconsin's history "suggests that amendment attempts were twice as common when the government was divided," she said. "It's not a new trend. It's a pretty consistent trend that the way you get around a gubernatorial veto is through a legislatively referred constitutional amendment."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin noncitizen voting referendum in November election, explained