Rep. Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, wears a pin as he speaks at an Oct. 9 press conference supporting a state question that attempts to strengthen the state’s ban on non-citizens from voting in Oklahoma elections. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahomans passed a constitutional amendment to define eligible voters as “only citizens of the United States,” the Associated Press has declared.
Early vote counts showed significant support for the measure in Tuesday’s election in a state where it already was a felony offense for non-citizens to vote. Previously, the state Constitution labeled eligible voters as “all citizens of the United States.”
The Oklahoma Legislature put the amendment, proposed in State Question 834 , on the General Election ballot with two party-line votes in the final hour of its 2024 session .
Only legislative Democrats opposed putting SQ 834 on the ballot. They said the measure is unnecessary because state law already requires American citizenship to vote.