MONTGOMERY, AL — Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has announced that the cornerstone of his 2025 legislative agenda will be the Natural Born Citizen Constitutional Amendment (SB 21), legislation sponsored in the Alabama Senate by Senator Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva).
The proposed amendment seeks to require that all of Alabama’s elected constitutional officers be natural-born citizens of the United States. If approved by the Alabama Legislature, the measure would then go before voters for ratification on November 3, 2026.
Allen said the initiative reflects his commitment to ensuring that those serving in the state’s highest offices meet the same standard set for the nation’s president.
“For the same reasons our founding fathers sought to ensure that our nation’s leader was a natural-born American citizen, we believe the same standard must be required of those operating in the highest levels of our state government,” Allen said. “I am confident that the vast majority of Alabamians join us in wanting to strengthen our state Constitution to put Alabama first and to counteract any potential future influence from abroad.”
Senator Chesteen said he was eager to partner with Allen on the legislation.
“When Wes Allen approached me with the idea of mandating that all of our state’s elected constitutional officers must be natural-born citizens of the United States, I told him that I wanted to work with him as the Senate Sponsor on this legislation,” Chesteen said. “Most people believe that is already a requirement, and so we should ensure that we make it a prerequisite for serving.”
Representative Rhett Marques (R-Enterprise) will carry the bill in the Alabama House of Representatives.
Wes Allen, Alabama’s 54th Secretary of State, serves as the state’s Chief Elections Official. His office is responsible for more than 1,000 statutory duties, including overseeing elections, business filings, and state records. More information about the Secretary of State’s responsibilities is available at www.sos.alabama.gov.
