Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law Monday, saying that only US citizens will be “crystal clear” if he is allowed to vote in elections in his state.
“I have just signed a joint resolution to make it clear under the Texas Constitution that under the Texas Constitution you are not permitted to vote in Texas unless you are a citizen of the United States,” the governor said in a video posted to X.
Texas Sen. Brian Birdwell is a Republican and introduced Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 37 in January, in which he proposed a constitutional amendment that made it clear that voters in the Texas election must be US citizens.
Before the resolution, the constitution prohibited votes in elections, along with people under the age of 18, those found mentally incompetent by the court, or those convicted of a felony.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a joint resolution to amend the state constitution and require that US citizens be allowed to vote only in Texas elections. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
However, the amendment suggests adding a line to a class of people who are “not allowed to vote” in Texas, which says “people who are not citizens of the United States.”
Birdwell’s joint resolution was approved by state senators in April and then by the state capitol in May.
Abbott signed a joint resolution on Monday, but there is still one more step. In fact, Texans will gain final say in November on whether they can ratify the state constitution to be included in the state constitution.
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Voters in Texas will have the opportunity to gain final say on whether US citizens are only allowed to vote in state elections. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Abbott and Birdwell’s offices for comment.
Last month, a federal judge blocked an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, requiring evidence of citizenship before being allowed to register for the ballot.
Judge Colleen Coller Cotery of the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court, handed over the orders in response to a lawsuit filed by three separate groups of plaintiffs over five different provisions in the March 25th Trump Executive Order on election integrity. Kollar-Kotelly rejected the request to block three provisions, but was granted a request to block two other provisions regarding proof of voters’ citizenship requirements.
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Voters will fill out their votes. (George Frey/AFP via Getty Images)
The first blocked clause called on the Election Aid Commission to amend the standardized national voter registration form to request documentary proof of citizenship. The second attempted to provide voter registration to people receiving public support and require that individuals “assess” their individual citizenship status before doing so.
“Our constitution entrusts the power to regulate federal elections, not the president, Congress and the state. In line with that distribution of power, Congress is currently discussing laws that affect many changes that the president aims to order. “The statutory delegation of power to the administrative department does not allow the president to short-circumvent the deliberation process of Congress through executive orders.”
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Meanwhile, 25 states, including Texas, are considering some form of citizenship law, according to the Voting Rights Lab, which tracks such laws. In total, 15 state constitutions have an explicit prohibition against non-citizen votes.
ALEC Schemmel from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to greg.wehner @fox.com and Twitter @gregwehner.
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