Has the Arkansas Constitution’s declaration that “any” citizen can vote been enough to ensure that “only” citizens can vote?

Voters will have a chance to answer that question this November. On the ballot will be Issue 1, the Citizens Only Voting Amendment. 

The 1874 Arkansas Constitution says “any person” who is a U.S. citizen, an Arkansas resident, at least age 18, and is lawfully registered can vote in this state.

Issue 1 would change the wording from “any person” to “Only a citizen of the United States” who meets those qualifications.

The amendment’s primary legislative sponsor, Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, said in a press conference Tuesday that the proposed new wording is “exclusive, unambiguous, and absolute.” He said the current wording protects citizens’ right to vote but doesn’t prevent local governments from granting eligibility to noncitizens in local elections. 

Ray said no Arkansas cities or counties have moved to legalize noncitizen voting, but it has happened in other states. He along with Becky Arps, director of research for Americans for Citizen Voting, said local governments in California, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., have granted noncitizens the right to vote in local elections. Arps said Issue 1 would also ensure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections.

“In many ways, this is a preventative measure, trying to keep those bad ideas from coming here,” Ray said.

Also speaking was Secretary of State Cole Jester, who announced last October that his office had identified 240 noncitizens who had registered to vote. That equals about 0.013% of the state’s 1.8 million registered voters. Spokesperson Samantha Boyd this week said 37 of those individuals had actually voted. The office has referred those cases to law enforcement for ongoing investigations. 

Mireya Reith, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group Arkansas United, was quoted last year by the Arkansas Advocate news outlet saying most immigrant registrations are due to clerical errors. Immigrants don’t want to break the law because of the repercussions, including deportation, she said. 

Arkansas is one of six states considering citizen-only voting amendments this November, according to Americans for Citizen Voting. Fourteen states have already passed measures, including Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The exclusive language was already enshrined in five state constitutions. 

A March 2025 telephone poll of 706 likely voters by Americans for Citizen Voting found that 70% of Arkansans supported Issue 1. Eighteen percent opposed it, and 12% were undecided. The group is obviously not an unbiased pollster, but the question it says it asked respondents seems straightforward enough. Oklahoma’s measure passed in 2024 with 81% support.

Also on hand was Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, the Republican candidate for secretary of state to succeed Jester. He said if immigrants want to vote, they should become citizens.

“This is a proactive measure just to bring clarity,” he said. “I do think it’s important that it’s included into the Constitution, so that it will remove any question or any doubt of any municipality or local government that will try to usurp the Constitution of the United States.”

His two opponents in the secretary of state race have more of an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” perspective.

“I oppose Issue 1,” Democrat Kelly Grappe said. “Only U.S. citizens should vote in Arkansas elections. Our Constitution already requires that. I don’t believe we should amend our Constitution unnecessarily, particularly when doing so could create the impression that our current laws don’t protect the integrity of our elections. We should be building voter trust by giving Arkansans the facts about the protections already in place.”

Libertarian Michael Pakko took a similar position.

“I’m always skeptical about legislative ballot (measures),” he said. “This one strikes me as an unnecessary confirmation of the status quo. Noncitizens can’t vote already. It seems that it has been put forward to reinforce voter concern about noncitizens voting, which Cole Jester’s analysis showed was of minimal concern, at best.”

Voting by noncitizens is rare. Is Arkansas’ Constitution clear enough to keep it from happening – now and in the future? Or does it need to be amended?

Arkansans will decide at the ballot box this November.

© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.