Saline County voters back citizenship amendment 70% to 30% as measure leads statewide
Saline County voters supported a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution stating that only U.S. citizens may vote, 70% to 30%, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.
The county's 11:02 p.m. report showed 13,161 votes for the amendment and 5,590 against, out of 18,751 votes cast on the question. The count was not complete: Election Day votes were in from 54 of the county's 56 precincts, all partly counted, and early and absentee votes from 55 of 56.
Statewide, the amendment led 666,862 to 381,095, or about 64% to 36%, with 4,133 of 4,168 precincts reporting, according to the Kansas Secretary of State's results as of 12:05 a.m. Wednesday.
Saline County's support ran about 6 percentage points higher than the statewide margin.
What the amendment does
The measure, House Concurrent Resolution 5004, rewrites Article 5, Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution, which sets the qualifications of voters. The current wording says that "every citizen of the United States" who is at least 18 and lives in the voting area "shall be deemed a qualified elector."
The amendment changes that sentence to say that "no person shall be deemed a qualified elector unless such person" is a U.S. citizen, is at least 18 and, except in certain cases, lives in the voting area where the person seeks to vote.
The amendment does not change the voting age or the residency requirement. It keeps the existing exceptions that let Kansans who have recently moved vote for president from out of state under federal law, and that let voters who moved within Kansas shortly before an election vote at their former precinct. The rest of the changes replace "he or she" with "such person."
The explanatory statement printed on the ballot read: "This amendment would clarify that only a person who is a citizen of the United States is eligible to vote in this state. A vote for this proposition would clarify that only a person who is a citizen of the United States is eligible to vote in this state. A vote against this proposition would make no change to the constitution of the state of Kansas, and the language concerning voter qualifications would remain the same."
Results are unofficial
The results do not include provisional ballots, which county boards of canvassers will review by Nov. 16, according to the Secretary of State. The State Board of Canvassers is scheduled to certify the general election results, including the amendment, on Dec. 1.
The Secretary of State's office will randomly select races, along with the constitutional amendment, for post-election audits, which counties conduct by hand-counting paper ballots from selected precincts.
Updated 12:05 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, with Saline County results as of 11:02 p.m. Tuesday and Kansas Secretary of State results as of 12:05 a.m.
