by Rebeka Zeljko
The House passed a bill on Wednesday that requires proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is an amendment to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 that requires proof of citizenship “to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office,” according to the bill text. The bill, which was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, passed the House 221-198.
Five Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the bill.
“We will only be able to keep this republic as a republic as long as our citizenship as Americans remains meaningful,” Roy said in a press release following the bill’s passage. “That’s why I introduced the SAVE Act in the first place, and it’s why the People’s House passed it today.”
Whipping support for our bill, the SAVE Act.
Call your Representative and tell them you want them to ensure only AMERICANS vote in American elections. #SAVEAct pic.twitter.com/Cohy1zMOKJ
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 9, 2024
The bill establishes criminal penalties for election officials who register voters without enforcing the requirement to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Additionally, the bill requires noncitizens to be removed from official lists of eligible voters.
The Biden Administration released a statement in opposition to the bill on Monday, claiming that states “already have effective safeguards in place to verify voter’s eligibility and maintain accuracy of voter rolls.”
“This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls,” the White House said. “The evidence is clear that the current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working as intended — it is extraordinarily rare for noncitizens to break the law by voting in Federal elections.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday that Democrats are trying to “mislead” Americans about election integrity efforts because “they want illegals to vote in our elections.”
“They’re claiming to oppose the bill because they say it’s going to make it harder to vote,” Johnson said during a press conference. “But they know that that is not true. Many of the Democrats want all of these illegals to participate in our federal elections. They want them to vote. There’s no other conclusion that you could draw. When the White House announced that they would veto the bill they effectively handed our elections over to all of these illegal aliens that have come here.”
Democrats have tried to mislead the American people about our efforts to prevent noncitizens from voting.
Why? Because they want illegals to vote in our elections.
We must protect American elections by passing @chiproytx's SAVE Act. pic.twitter.com/aKiI6Ldi6Q
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 9, 2024
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): Requiring that only American citizens vote "is designed to jam people up and prevent Americans from voting." pic.twitter.com/Sx6wTU5Ayg
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 10, 2024
“Let me be clear, they don’t want you to vote. ” Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania said during a floor speech. “They don’t want to hear black voices, brown voices, LGBTQIA voices, young voices. Our fundamental access to our democracy is being politicized. And this xenophobic attack that we are debating today will make it harder for Americans to vote.”
The bill was cosponsored by over 100 Republican lawmakers including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.
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Rebeka Zeljko is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
