The principles of secure and fair elections are at the core of any functioning democracy, and the recent anniversary of the U.S. Constitution serves as a reminder of this. One of the most pressing election-related questions today centers on whether voting should be reserved exclusively for U.S. citizens. Earlier this year, the Wisconsin State Senate passed Senate Bill 98, a legislative measure designed to ensure only eligible voters—those who are U.S. citizens—can cast a ballot.

Senate Bill 98, though blocked from becoming law, introduced several key steps to safeguard voter integrity:

– Citizenship verification: The Wisconsin Elections Commission would be required to verify that every registered voter is a U.S. citizen.

– Continuous checks: Citizenship verification would not be a one-time action. The bill mandates that verification occur after the bill’s enactment, as well as during any voter registration or updates to a registration.

– Identification clarity: Non-citizens holding a state ID or driver’s license would receive IDs marked with “Not valid for voting purposes,” ensuring clarity and preventing unauthorized individuals from using these documents to vote.

Despite the bill’s clear objectives of election security, it faced opposition from Governor Tony Evers and Democrats in the legislature, halting its progress. Ironically, some critics labeled the ID requirement as discriminatory, even though they had previously proposed similar identification measures in a different bill earlier in the legislative session.

The debate around this issue isn’t over. Voters will face a constitutional amendment on this fall’s ballot that directly addresses the question: should only U.S. citizens be allowed to vote? The proposed language is straightforward:

QUESTION 1: “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?”

With concerns surrounding illegal immigration and questions about voting integrity, this amendment will give Wisconsin voters the opportunity to weigh in. While it is illegal for non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections, the current system has limited safeguards to ensure this law is enforced. In many states there are few mechanisms in place to consistently verify the citizenship status of every voter. While state IDs and driver’s licenses can be issued to non-citizens, these documents often do not clearly indicate that the holder is ineligible to vote. Without robust verification processes, there is a risk that non-citizens may inadvertently register or even cast ballots, underscoring the need for stronger protections to secure election integrity.

This fall, voters will not only participate in national, state, and local elections but also decide whether to affirm that only U.S. citizens should have the right to vote.