The House Judiciary Committee is poised to pass a resolution that would ensure only United States citizens can vote in West Virginia elections.
During a March 10 meeting, the committee advanced Senate Joint Resolution to the markup and passage stage. A vote, likely on March 11, would send the resolution to the full House of Delegates just days before the 60-day legislative session ends March 14.
“Today’s action by the House Judiciary Committee is an important step toward protecting the integrity of our elections,” said Charlie Kolean, state director of Americans for Citizen Voting. “West Virginians — like citizens across the country — overwhelmingly support the principle that only American citizens should be voting in American elections.
“West Virginia has an opportunity to join the growing number of states taking commonsense steps to safeguard the ballot. It’s time for the House to pass this resolution.”
The Senate passed SJR 9 by a 33-0 vote March 3. The measure now will be communicated to the House of Delegates, which had a similar resolution introduced at the start of the 2026 session only to languish in committee.
If passed, the resolution would put the issue before voters in the form of a Constitutional amendment.
House Joint Resolution 18 and SJR 9 both were introduced last month in the West Virginia Legislature, and both were sent to their respective Judiciary Committees. Both had languished until the Senate version gained traction a few weeks ago.
