The Citizens Only Voting Amendment (HJR 1018 of 2025) — Overview

Page last updated October 4, 2026 · Analysis validated October 4, 2026 · Sources last checked September 9, 2026

Issue 1 — The Citizens Only Voting Amendment

What it is

Issue 1 would change the Arkansas Constitution. Voters decide it on November 3, 2026.

How it reached the ballot

The General Assembly put it there. It did not come from a citizen petition. Lawmakers proposed it in 2025 as House Joint Resolution 1018. Representative Ray was the lead sponsor. Article 19, Section 22 of the state constitution lets the legislature refer amendments this way. The Secretary of State then assigned it a number, and it appears on the ballot as Issue No. 1.

What it is called

The resolution gives itself a short title: The Citizens Only Voting Amendment. That is the name most people will hear. Its popular name on the ballot is longer. The resolution sets that too, in full: A Constitutional Amendment to be Known as "The Citizens Only Voting Amendment" and Providing That Only a Citizen of the United States Meeting the Qualifications of an Elector Under the Arkansas Constitution May Vote in an Election in this State.

What would change

Under the Arkansas Constitution today, Article 3, Section 1 (who may vote) lists the qualifications a voter must have. Being a citizen of the United States is the first of them. That requirement is already in the constitution, not only in state law.

This amendment would add two new subsections above that list. The first says that ONLY a citizen of the United States who meets those qualifications may vote in an election in this state. The second says a person who does not meet them shall not be permitted to vote in any state or local election held in this state.

So the change is not the citizenship requirement itself. It is the word "only," and an express prohibition that reaches local elections as well as state ones.

The amendment also rewords the opening of the list. Today it says "any person may vote in an election in this state who" meets the list. The new text would say "to vote in an election in this state a person shall be" as listed.

What changes, and what only gets renumbered

The amendment reprints all of Article 3, Section 1 (who may vote). It has to. That is how a section of the constitution gets changed.

So the full text shows language about free photographic identification. It also shows language about provisional ballots. A reader may think the measure adds those things.

It does not. Both are in the constitution now. ARvoters checked the new text against its own copy of the current constitution. The words match exactly. Only the subsection letters move down.

The real change is the two new subsections above them.

Who may vote — Article 3, Section 1: letters that move The two new subsections have no 'before' and are not shown; they are the measure's operative change and are described above.

Arkansas Constitution today	As HJR 1018 would read it
(a) who may vote — the list of qualifications	becomes (b); its opening words change (see below)
(b) the photo ID rule the legislature enacts	becomes (c), unchanged
(c) free photo ID from the State	becomes (d), word for word the same
(d) provisional ballots	becomes (e), word for word the same
(e) the legislature may make exceptions	becomes (f), unchanged
(f) other election laws still apply	becomes (g), unchanged

The link between the two columns is stated in HJR 1018 of 2025 itself. At each change, its text prints the old letter right before the new one, such as (a)(b) and (f)(g), and it says that struck words would be removed and underlined words would be added.

[Corrected October 3, 2026: Earlier editions printed a garbled note under the table above. It has been rewritten in plain words. What it says has not changed: HJR 1018 itself shows which letter each part of the section moves to.]

[Corrected October 4, 2026: Earlier editions said in the table that the list of qualifications moves to (b) unchanged. Its opening words change too. Today it says "any person may vote in an election in this state who" meets the list. The new text would say "to vote in an election in this state a person shall be" as listed. A paragraph saying so was added under What would change.]

When it would take effect

A majority of the votes cast on the measure decides it. If it passes, the amendment starts on January 1, 2027.

Where to read it yourself

The Secretary of State publishes the ballot notice for Issue No. 1 — three pages: the popular name, the ballot title and the full text of the amendment. ARvoters holds a copy of that document. On September 9, 2026, we checked that our copy matches the one the State published.

Questions for discussion

Citizenship is already required to register to vote in Arkansas. What changes in practice if the same rule moves into the constitution?
Who checks whether a voter meets the citizenship requirement now, and does this measure change that process or only where the rule is written?
What would it take to undo or adjust this provision later if it caused problems?
This measure came from the legislature, not from a petition. Should a voter weigh a referred measure any differently?
The two new subsections reach local elections as well as state ones. Which elections does that cover, and who runs them?

[Corrected October 4, 2026: Earlier editions included a discussion question that said other states had passed similar measures. ARvoters holds no record that supports that statement, so the question was removed and the rest renumbered.]

The information above is provided as context for this issue. As additional primary-source data becomes available, this Overview will be expanded as warranted, and companion reports may be published providing more detailed analysis of the issue, including its examination through the three constitutional interpretive traditions recognized by ARvoters.com.

By policy, ARvoters.com builds its findings on published primary data. Material issued by a government body — an agency, a court, or an official office — is a source document, whether obtained directly or carried in news coverage. Independent reporting, commentary, opinion, and social-media discussion are radar indicators — signals of where to look. Where a finding rests on reporting that attributes a named official statement, it is presented as reported rather than established, until the issuing body's own record is obtained. Reporting that rests on unnamed sources is never treated as establishing a fact. Independent news is not considered qualifying source material, but may be cited for context as unverified information with respect to the actual source.

Standing disclaimers:

Video Content — Not Reviewed

ARvoters does not review video content posted to a public body's website or elsewhere relative to any ordinance, resolution or other adopted instrument, and assumes no responsibility for statements, assertions, or policy positions implied or specified in such video content. Any such policy content is outside the scope of this analysis unless formally documented in the text of the instrument. Whether policy may be formed or altered through statements made on video without corresponding entry into the text of the instrument is a legal question outside the scope of this framework.

Documentary Scope — Limited to the Cited Record

ARvoters analysis is limited to the text of the instrument as adopted or filed in the public record — a bill, act or amendment, or an ordinance, resolution, or other action of a city council, quorum court or comparable body — together with any other record this report expressly cites. ARvoters does not review, incorporate, or assume responsibility for any material this report does not cite — including but not limited to notes, minutes, committee reports, fiscal impact statements, official or unofficial comments, opinions, press releases, or any other discussion.

ARvoters also does not review or incorporate court opinions — whether pending, published, or prospective — that may relate, directly, indirectly, or by implication, to the instrument under analysis.

Whether policy may be formed, altered, or interpreted through materials outside the text of the instrument is a legal question outside the scope of this framework.