House Republicans and a handful of Democrats passed legislation on Wednesday requiring proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote, a top GOP priority that Democratic leadership strongly opposed.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act was supported by 216 Republicans and five Democrats, with 198 Democratic lawmakers opposing the bill. It is unlikely to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The SAVE Act would require voters to provide proof of citizenship including a valid photo ID and documentation such as a birth certificate.
Republicans have warned of illegal immigrants potentially registering to vote and casting ballots in national elections this year. Although documentary proof of citizenship is not required for federal voter registration forms, it is illegal to falsely claim oneself to be a U.S. citizen.
Noncitizen voting is not a widely documented phenomenon, but some deep-blue locales have passed laws permitting it. The left-wing Brennan Center found 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes across 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 election.
“Over the past four years, Joe Biden has welcomed millions upon millions of illegals into the country knowing that noncitizens only have to check a box to vote in a federal election,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said in a statement.
“We have long known this was an intentional effort to turn them into voters, and now the American people know where every member of Congress stands on this critically important issue.”
Johnson’s office published a report in June making the case for the SAVE Act, and the document cites a 2014 study that apparently found noncitizens voted in 2008 and 2010 elections. A loophole in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Biden administration’s refusal to enforce immigration law could potentially allow noncitizens to vote, the white paper warns.
Record levels of border crossings under President Biden and a string of high-profile violent crimes by illegal immigrants have raised the immigration issue to the top of voters’ minds. Biden consistently polls poorly on the issue compared with his 2024 rival, former president Donald Trump, who backed the SAVE Act and urged Republicans to vote for it on Wednesday.
“And they should pass the SAVE ACT immediately to stop illegals from voting in our elections. Republicans MUST GET TOUGH about stopping weaponization and cheating!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Before the vote, House Democratic leadership urged members to vote no on the SAVE Act, Axios reported. Democrats have suggested the SAVE Act would be burdensome for millions of Americans and dismissed the possibility of noncitizen voting in federal elections. Across the board, Democrats oppose voter-ID requirements, arguing that such measures are racist toward black voters.
“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 in a statement opposing the SAVE Act.
“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.”