A new U.S. congressional bill seeks to compel states to share their voter roll data with the federal government.
The Election Security Partnership Act would provide additional grant funding to states that submit their voter roll information to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for use in checking for ineligible voters and non-citizens.
The bill proposal would appropriate $20 million to the Election Assistance Commission for distribution to eligible states. The money can be used to strengthen election technology, security systems, and the administration of federal elections.
States that qualify could also get a bonus payment up to 10% of the amount they got from the 2026 federal election security grant program.
According to the bill proposal, the DHS would use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to check for ineligible voters and non-citizens.
The SAVE program is “an online service for registered federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies to verify immigration status and U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses,” according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Currently, only 26 states use the SAVE program.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are the co-sponsors of the bill proposal.
Blackburn said American elections “must be reserved for U.S. citizens.”
“More than 80% of Americans want government officials at every level of government to eliminate all voter fraud, and they are fed up with Congress not taking action,” she said.
“I will not rest until we pass election integrity measures in any way possible, which is why I am introducing the Election Security Partnership Act to ensure every state is using the SAVE program and following Tennessee’s lead to restore faith in America’s elections,” she added.
The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard ranks Tennessee tied with Arkansas as having America’s strongest voting laws.
Graham said a bedrock of America’s republic is “free, fair and secure elections.” Despite this principle, the senator said “Democrat-led states across the country have failed to enact common-sense election integrity measures to combat fraud and cheating.”
“After millions of illegal aliens invaded our country during the Biden years, Americans want to know that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections. I’m pleased to join Senator Blackburn in introducing this legislation to strengthen the integrity of and confidence in our elections,” he noted.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
