UPDATE: No further votes are expected in the House this week. Next votes are expected on Monday, April 7th. This is a change in schedule.
The U.S. House of Representatives is at work in the Halls of Congress this week as House Leadership plans to bring another bill to the floor to codify President Trump’s executive actions.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act has opened a heated, though Constitutionally unambiguous, question as to whether noncitizens should enjoy voting privileges in United States elections. Clearly, this is a hard “no” as far as American values are concerned. While some municipalities in D.C., California, Vermont, and Maryland allow non-citizens to elect their leaders, federal law is clear that only American citizens can participate in national elections.
Lax registration laws, however, have muddied the waters and allowed non-citizens to participate in federal elections illegally. For example, states who allow aliens to receive state-issued IDs may automatically register them to vote in the ID admissions process. Further, states who do not require IDs to vote have no meaningful way to secure any voter’s identity, most critically their citizenship status.
Because of these issues and more, voter rolls are sometimes inundated with false registrations that compromise the legitimacy of the systems. Ahead of the 2024 election, Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin’s administration claimed to discover over 6,000 noncitizens listed on their state’s voter roll.
President Trump recently acknowledged this issue, noting “states fail adequately to vet voters’ citizenship, and, in recent years, the Department of Justice has failed to prioritize and devote sufficient resources for enforcement of these provisions. Even worse, the prior administration actively prevented States from removing aliens from their voter lists.”
In his order “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” the President clarified “It is the policy of my Administration to enforce Federal law and to protect the integrity of our election process.” As such, states must:
- require proof of citizenship to vote (ID, passport, military ID card, etc.)
- identify unqualified voters registered in the state
The Department of Homeland Security and Department of State are charged to ensure states have access to all necessary verification systems, databases, and records, and the Attorney General shall prioritize enforcement of the federal laws that limit election participation to U.S. citizens.
The House of Representatives passed similar legislative safeguards with bipartisan support last Congress, but Democrat leadership blocked its final passage in the Senate. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas 21st) and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) reintroduced the bill in the new Congress where House Leadership has made it a legislative priority. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana 4th), Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana 1st), Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota 6th), and Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Michigan 9th) released a statement on Monday:
“American citizens — and only American citizens — should decide American elections. House Republicans are determined to codify this commonsense idea with the SAVE Act which puts in place commonsense safeguards to prevent noncitizens from abusing our democratic process. This legislation cements into law President Trump’s executive action to secure our voter registration process and protect the voices of American voters. We urge all our colleagues in the House to join us in doing what the overwhelming majority of people in this country rightfully demand and deserve.”
The House is expected to vote on the bill later this week, and then it will move to the Upper Chamber where Senators will finally take a vote on strengthened election integrity laws.
President Trump highlighted election integrity as an integral part of the agenda voters overwhelmingly affirmed,but more than just political popularity, securing elections should remain a central mission of our federal government. Keeping the power of leader selection in the hands of the people is a core tenet of who we are as a nation.