by Sen. Marsha Blackburn
In America, nothing is more fundamental to preserving our God-given freedoms than fair and open elections — which is why it is crucial that states make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
Thankfully, Tennessee is leading the way in preserving trust in the voting process. In fact, according to the Heritage Foundation, our state ranks number one in the country on the group’s “Election Integrity Scorecard.” By enforcing voter photo ID, accurate registration lists, verification of citizenship, and many more measures, Tennessee is ensuring that voters across the political spectrum can have confidence in election outcomes.
Unfortunately, many states fall short of Tennessee’s example. Although you need an ID to open a bank account, purchase alcohol, or board an airplane, 14 states across the country don’t require voters to show any form of identification at the polls. States such as California, Hawaii, and New York, meanwhile, fail to take basic steps to ensure accurate voter registration lists, including by comparing voter rolls with Social Security Administration death records.
This lack of oversight would be bad enough, but for more than three years, the Biden-Harris administration has left our border wide open, leaving lax state voting policies vulnerable to exploitation by illegal aliens. Under this administration, there have been more than 10.2 million illegal crossings — with countless illegal aliens receiving government benefits, including drivers’ licenses and state IDs that illegal aliens can use to illegally register to vote.
In fact, over the years, thousands of noncitizens have been discovered on voter rolls from Massachusetts to Arizona and everywhere in between. Under Republican leadership in Virginia, state election officials discovered and removed more than 6,000 aliens from their voter rolls in less than three years.
On top of this, states such as California — which had 1.8 million illegal aliens residing in the state as of 2022 — fail to use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program to identify noncitizens attempting to vote.
One thing is clear: While it is against the law for illegal aliens to vote in federal elections, many states and jurisdictions lack the proper safeguards to ensure that not a single illegal alien can vote in our elections — a risk that is especially high with the millions of illegals who have poured into our country under this administration.
To make matters worse, the Biden-Harris administration has pushed partisan politics into the election process, issuing an executive order in 2021 that forces federal agencies to work with outside, partisan groups to mobilize voters — all on the taxpayers’ dime. Of course, the executive order excludes any information about how the Biden-Harris administration will approve these outside groups.
To address these election integrity issues, my Senate Republican colleagues and I went down to the Senate floor late last month to call for a vote on two crucial bills.
The first, the SAVE Act, would require states to obtain proof of U.S. citizenship — in person — before allowing an individual to register to vote for a federal election. In addition, the legislation would require states to establish programs to remove aliens from their voter rolls.
The second, the Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act, would block the Biden-Harris executive order and ensure that taxpayer funds are not used for partisan electioneering.
To no one’s surprise, however, Senate Democrats blocked these measures. Tennesseans and many Americans will probably wonder: What about these bills could Democrats possibly oppose?
Do they want illegal aliens voting in federal elections?
Do they want the Biden-Harris administration tipping the scales of election outcomes?
Do they want We the People to lose faith in our elections?
Make no mistake: While Senate Democrats play politics, Republicans will continue to fight for common-sense measures that preserve fairness, transparency, and trust in our voting system.
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Marsha Blackburn is the senior U.S. Senator from Tennessee.
