SJR 8 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Citizenship Requirement to Vote in WV Elections Amendment

SJR 8 proposes a constitutional amendment requiring all voters in West Virginia elections to be U.S. citizens. The amendment would add language to the state constitution stating: "Only citizens of the state who are citizens of the United States shall be entitled to vote at all elections." This would codify the existing requirement that voters must be U.S. citizens, which is already enforced under current law. The proposal must be approved by voters in the 2026 general election to take effect.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 17, 2025 Last action Apr 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute (1) → Committee Substitute (2) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised from Committee Substitute (1) to Committee Substitute (2), adding new sponsors and changing the reporting committee from Judiciary to Finance. The core constitutional amendment text was modified to explicitly remove 'citizens of the state' from the opening clause while adding language prohibiting non-citizens from voting, clarifying that only United States citizens may vote in West Virginia elections.

Scope change

The amendment's scope was narrowed and clarified by removing redundant 'citizens of the state' language and explicitly adding a prohibition against non-citizen voting, ensuring the requirement applies specifically to United States citizenship status.

ELIGIBILITY

The voting eligibility clause was changed from 'The citizens of the state who are citizens of the United States' to 'The citizens of the state', with a new explicit prohibition added that no person who is not a United States citizen may vote.

New language was inserted stating that no person in military, naval, or marine service stationed in the state shall be deemed a resident by reason of being stationed there, nor shall any non-citizen be entitled to vote.

TIMELINE

The report date was updated from February 21, 2025, to March 31, 2025, and the reporting committee changed from the Committee on the Judiciary to the Committee on Finance.

TECHNICAL

Additional sponsors were added to the list of sponsoring senators, including Willis, Deeds, Hart, and Woodrum.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 3, 2025

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Adopted by Senate (Roll No. 298)

upper

Mar 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute for committee substitute reported

upper

Feb 21, 2025

Committee

To Finance

upper

Feb 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

Feb 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary then Finance

upper

1 primary · 17 co-sponsors