On Monday, President Joe Biden formally rejected a bill in Congress that would mandate individuals to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
In a policy statement, the Biden administration expressed “strong opposition” to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) earlier this year. ‘
The bill is anticipated to be voted on in the Republican-led House as early as this week. However, the statement did not address the possibility of a veto.
“It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections — it is a Federal crime punishable by prison and fines. The alleged justification for this bill is based on easily disproven falsehoods,” the statement said. “Additionally, making a false claim of citizenship or unlawfully voting in an election is punishable by removal from the United States and a permanent bar to admission.”
The statement added, “States already have effective safeguards in place to verify voters’ eligibility and maintain the 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.”
Although some municipalities in certain states and Washington, D.C., permit non-citizens to vote in local elections, Republicans argue that the SAVE Act is necessary to address the border crisis and strengthen election integrity.
The act mandates that states remove non-citizens from voter rolls for federal elections whenever documentation or verified information shows that a registrant is not a U.S. citizen.
Representative Roy emphasized on X that current federal law prevents states from verifying citizenship status during federal election registration.
He asserted that the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship for registration and the removal of non-citizens from voter rolls, addresses this issue and questioned what Democrats are afraid of, calling it “basic stuff.”
House Democrat leaders have urged their colleagues to oppose the bill, arguing it would prevent Americans from registering to vote with just a driver’s license and would make a passport the only acceptable standalone form of identification.
They claim the bill would impose an extreme burden on many Americans, intimidate election officials, and overwhelm states’ capacities to register new voters.
Axios reported that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recently released a report supporting the SAVE Act.
The report highlighted a “loophole” in the National Voter Registration Act that does not require proof of citizenship for federal election registration, relying instead on individuals’ self-attestation of citizenship and eligibility.
The report also cited instances of non-citizens being on voter rolls in various states.
(DW)
