Amending the Constitution is a long process.
Lawmakers must agree in a vote in two consecutive general assemblies (see The Gazette, Sept. 30, 2024). This November, in addition to casting votes for candidates in the General Election, Iowans will vote on two issues to amend the Iowa Constitution: Voting Age and Citizenship and Gubernatorial Succession.
Section 1 of Article II of Iowa’s Constitution as amended in 1970, Voting Age and Citizenship, is addressed in three sentences. However, this amendment changes the wording of this section in one very important way.
“Section 1. Electors. Only a citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen years, who shall have been a resident of this state for such period of time as shall be provided by law and of the county in which the citizen claims the citizen’s vote for such period of time as shall be provided by law, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are authorized by law. However, for purposes of a primary election, a United States citizen must be at least eighteen years of age as of the next general election following the primary election. The required periods of residence shall not exceed six months in this state and sixty days in the county.”