Here's how the Louisiana Constitution will change after Dec. 10 election
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) -- Louisiana voters have amended the state constitution in the Dec. 10 runoff election.
Three proposed amendments were on the ballot, one requiring U.S. citizenship to register to vote in Louisiana, and the other two requiring Senate approval of specific appointments by the governor. Voters approved all three.
Voters approved the citizenship requirement, which read, "Do you support an amendment to provide that no person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to register and vote in this state?"
The measure was proposed after Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin pointed out that the current constitutional language could allow someone to interpret the phrase “citizen of the state” to mean “resident of the state.” Because a foreign citizen can be a Louisiana resident, someone could argue that the state constitution allows non-citizens to vote in local elections in Louisiana, he said.
Opponents argued that the ballot measure would create a false narrative that non-citizens are voting in Louisiana. The Secretary of State already requires U.S. citizenship to register to vote in Louisiana.
Voters chose to give the state senate the power to reject nominations to the state's Civil Service Commission and State Police Commission by the governor.