West Virginia amendment would put existing U.S. citizenship rule in constitution

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West Virginia voters will decide Nov. 3 whether Amendment 1 should write a U.S. citizenship requirement into the state constitution. Election law already requires U.S. citizenship for voter registration, the Secretary of State’s Office said in an Oct. 1 release.

The amendment would revise Article IV, Section 1, which specifies state citizenship but does not expressly require U.S. citizenship, the release explains. The proposal would explicitly require both.

“The duty of the Office of the Secretary of State is to ensure that any amendment approved by the Legislature is placed on every ballot in the state so voters can make the final decision. A majority vote is required for passage. If approved by voters, the amendment would become part of the West Virginia Constitution upon ratification,” Secretary of State Kris Warner said in the release.

Lawmakers proposed the change during the 2026 regular session. My Buckhannon’s July 23 story on the public notice includes the amendment’s full wording.

For the full amendment text and a sample ballot, the office directs voters to GoVoteWV.com.

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