Countering confusion

Voters in Washington, Arizona, Missouri, and Colorado will weigh amendments in November to protect children from receiving gender transition treatments or to prevent boys from entering female locker rooms or playing on female sports teams. So far, 27 states have enacted policies aimed at curtailing access to procedures intended to alter children’s biological sex characteristics, though some face legal challenges. Washington’s and Arizona’s measures could prohibit schools and athletic associations from allowing students and athletes to join teams or use locker rooms that don’t align with their biological sex. Missouri’s Amendment 3 would prohibit doctors from performing gender transition surgeries on minors and prescribing most cross-sex hormones.

Colorado voters will decide on a similar measure as well as a law restricting participation in K-12 and collegiate sports based on the athlete’s biological sex, though females may play on a male team if no female team is available. Erin Lee is founder and director of Protect Kids Colorado, the organization leading the statewide push for the measures. “We [are currently] what I call a child mutilation sanctuary state,” Lee said. “If you can get a child over state lines, they can be mutilated, no questions asked, no parent consent required, and no other state law or custody order can stop it.”

Citizenship check

Residents of 10 states—Arkansas, Arizona, California, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and West Virginia—will consider amending state constitutions to specify that noncitizens are ineligible to vote or requiring voters to present a form of photo ID. All state constitutions mention citizenship when outlining voter eligibility, but 32 states do not specify that noncitizens cannot vote in state or local elections. Currently, only 18 states emphasize that citizens can vote and noncitizens may not. State efforts to require proof of citizenship parallel efforts at the federal level contained in the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (the SAVE America Act), which would prohibit states from registering individuals to vote in federal elections unless they show proof of citizenship. It also requires states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. The House of Representatives passed a version of the measure earlier this year that is currently stalled in key Senate committees. —A.O.

Honorable mentions

Wisconsin could become the 14th state to prohibit shuttering places of worship during a state of emergency, including public health emergencies. Alabama voters will weigh an amendment requiring public schools to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance daily and allow students to initiate and conduct prayer. In Idaho, voters will choose an official “state gun” in a nonbinding state question intended to advise the state legislature about voter preferences. Idaho voters will also consider amending their constitution to declare English the state’s official language. —A.O.