Amendment 1 Is on Every West Virginia Ballot Tuesday: What the Citizenship Voting Measure Does

When West Virginians head to the polls Tuesday, there's one question every single voter in the Mountain State will see, no matter which county they call home. It's Amendment 1, and it's the only statewide measure on this year's ballot.

Here's a plain-spoken look at what it does, what it doesn't do, and what you need to know before you walk into that booth.

What Amendment 1 would change

Right now, the voting section of the West Virginia Constitution (Section 1 of Article IV) says that "the citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote." Amendment 1 would rewrite that opening so it reads that only citizens of the state who are also citizens of the United States are entitled to vote.

The ballot title calls it the "Citizenship Requirement to Vote in West Virginia Elections Amendment." It was placed on the ballot by the Legislature. A "yes" vote supports changing the constitution's wording. A "no" vote keeps the current language. To pass, it needs more than 50% of the vote.

What it would not change

This is the part a lot of folks have been asking about. Voting by noncitizens is already against the law in West Virginia under both state and federal statute, so the amendment would not change who can vote here today. It moves that rule into the state constitution itself.

Secretary of State Kris Warner has said the amendment would not add any new requirements for voting. He has also said it would make it more difficult for any future legislative action to allow noncitizens to vote in municipal elections.

Election officials have also pointed out that the amendment does not require voters to show a birth certificate or any other document proving citizenship when they register. The citizenship attestation on the voter registration form stays the same, and the other existing rules, like residency requirements and the disqualifications for certain felony convictions or a court ruling of mental incompetence, stay in place too.

Warner has stressed that his office doesn't write amendments, doesn't decide whether they should be adopted, and doesn't tell anyone how to vote on them. That decision belongs to the voters.

West Virginia isn't alone

Measures like this have been popping up across the country. Between 2018 and 2025, voters in other states decided 15 similar citizenship-voting measures, and every one of them passed, with an average of about 73% of the vote.

If you're voting Tuesday

Polls across West Virginia are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. If you're in line when the polls close, you still get to vote, so don't step out of line. Along with Amendment 1, your ballot will include races for U.S. Senate, both of West Virginia's U.S. House seats, and a long list of legislative and local contests.

So grab your coffee, check where your precinct is, and go make your voice heard, West Virginia. However you vote on Amendment 1, it's your call to make.