At a glance
Texas Proposition 16 was approved on November 4, 2025 with about 72% of the vote, carrying all but one of Texas's 254 counties (Wikipedia; certified results via Ballotpedia).
The challenge
U.S. citizenship was already required to vote under federal and Texas law, but the Texas Constitution did not expressly list non-citizens among those barred from voting. Supporters warned that, under home rule, a municipality could decide on its own who may vote in local elections, as some cities in other states have done.
The message
The Yes campaign kept the message simple: only U.S. citizens should vote in Texas elections. As SPM President Charlie Kolean put it on behalf of Americans for Citizens Voting:
"Due to home rule, a local municipality can say, 'hey, we're going to choose who can vote in our local elections.' … By voting yes, Texas is sending a simple message that only U.S. citizens should be voting in our elections."
Charlie Kolean, Americans for Citizens Voting, as quoted by Ballotpedia
The result
Texas voters approved all 17 constitutional amendments on the 2025 ballot, and Proposition 16 finished among the strongest, with roughly 2.13 million Yes votes to 831,000 No votes in the certified count. The amendment now places the citizenship requirement in Article 6 of the Texas Constitution.
