Rebecca Zeljko
The House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.
The Protecting Americans’ Voting Rights Act (SAVE) is an amendment to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 that requires proof of citizenship “in order to register a person to vote in elections for federal office,” According to to the text of the bill. The bill, introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, He passed Room 221-198.
Five Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill.
“We will be able to keep this republic a republic as long as our citizenship as Americans remains meaningful,” Roy said. he said in a press release after the bill was passed. “That is why I introduced the SAVE Act and why the House of Peoples passed it today.”
Gathering support for our SAVE Act bill.
Call your representative and tell him or her you want him or her to make sure only AMERICANS vote in American elections. #SAVEAct photo: twitter.com/Cohy1zMOKJ
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 9, 2024
Bill establishes criminal penalties for election officials who register voters without enforcing the requirement to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill also requires noncitizens to be removed from official voter rolls.
The Biden administration issued a statement in objection to the bill on Monday, saying states “already have effective safeguards in place to verify voter eligibility and maintain the accuracy of voter rolls.”
“This bill would do nothing to secure our elections, but it would make it much more difficult for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters will be removed from the rolls,” the White House said. “The evidence clearly shows that current laws that prevent noncitizens from voting are working as intended — it is extremely rare for noncitizens to break the law by voting in federal elections.”
Speaker Mike Johnson he said on Tuesday that Democrats are trying to “mislead” Americans about election integrity efforts because “they want illegal immigrants to vote in our elections.”
“They say they oppose the bill because they say it will make it harder to vote,” Johnson said at a news conference. “But they know that’s not true. Many Democrats want all of these illegal immigrants to vote in our federal elections. They want them to vote. There’s no other conclusion that you can draw. When the White House announced that they were vetoing the bill, they effectively put our elections in the hands of all of these illegal immigrants who came here.”
Democrats tried to mislead Americans about our efforts to prevent foreigners from voting.
Why? Because they want illegals to vote in our elections.
We must protect American elections by passing @chiproytxThe SAVE Act. photo:twitter.com/aKiI6Ldi6Q
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 9, 2024
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): Requiring only American citizens to vote “is designed to make it harder for people to vote and to prevent Americans from voting.” photo:twitter.com/Sx6wTU5Ayg
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 10, 2024
“Let’s be clear, they don’t want you to vote,” said Democratic congresswoman Summer Lee of Pennsylvania. while floor speech. “They don’t want to hear black voices, brown voices, LGBTQIA voices, young voices. Our basic access to our democracy is being politicized. And this xenophobic attack that we’re debating today will make it harder for Americans to vote.”
The bill was co-sponsored by more than 100 Republican lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.
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Rebecca Zeljko is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
