It’s time to end NC’s silence on whether noncitizens can vote | Opinion

Now is the time for the North Carolina General Assembly to propose two reforms to voting rights. North Carolinians should have the chance to choose whether to grant voting rights exclusively to resident American citizens and to repeal the literacy test. The General Assembly can accomplish this by voting to place both measures on the ballot in 2024.

First, we must update the North Carolina Constitution to affirm explicitly that only citizens can vote. Article VI, Section 1 states, “every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized” may vote in North Carolina elections. It is silent on whether noncitizens can vote.

Voting rights in North Carolina are currently limited to citizens by statute. A temporary majority in the General Assembly or state courts could seek to cement their power by granting resident aliens or even all residents (which would include undocumented immigrants) the right to vote, however.

Then North Carolina could suddenly join states like Vermont and cities such as Washington, D.C., which now allow noncitizens to vote, diminishing the voting power of citizens. The political news site Politico said that efforts to give noncitizens voting rights could “reshape local politics forever.” In a state where a margin of only 401 votes decided the last state Supreme Court Chief Justice race, it is a threat we should take seriously.

Activist legal groups and judges could exploit the state constitution’s silence on noncitizen voting. We have seen how a temporary progressive majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned citizen-approved voter ID and asserted that convicted felons still serving probation or parole had a right to vote. Activist lawyers and judges could similarly “discover” the right of noncitizens to vote.

Given North Carolina’s recent history, is it not hard to believe that a far-left city council in Asheville or elsewhere would challenge state law on noncitizen voting and find friendly judges who agree with them. That history shows that being clear on who can or cannot legally vote is not only warranted but necessary.

North Carolina has seen how such a temporary majority altered state and local politics for generations.

Around the turn of the 20th century, future governor and then – U.S. Attorney Charles Aycock along with Angus McLean and Josephus Daniels used a racist group called the Red Shirts to intimidate Black men and women. Armed with rifles, the Red Shirts traveled in Black neighborhoods shooting and pulling Black residents from their homes with threats of death if they voted. This same group played a prominent role in violently forcing the local government of Wilmington to resign in the 1898 insurrection.

They then imposed laws and constitutional amendments like the literacy test to permanently disenfranchise Blacks. With those changes in place, Aycock and his allies had the power to make their temporary majority permanent. North Carolina would have single-party rule for the next 70 years.

Incredibly, the literacy test is still in our constitution.

We see that progressive government and judiciary leaders are ready to use that shameful strategy today under the guise of equity and fairness. While our nation and state should always be open and welcoming to legal immigrants, the power to choose our governmental leaders must be reserved for American citizens.

Preventing noncitizen voting and repealing the literacy test address fundamental questions about our values and how power is distributed in our republic. That is why we urge the General Assembly to place them on the ballot for a vote of the people to change our state constitution.

Kevrick T. McKain is Vice President of the Douglass Leadership Institute. Andy Jackson is the Director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation.