The House on April 10 gave the nod to a bill that would enhance documentation and identity requirements to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in elections.
The bill, a Republican priority since well before President Donald Trump’s sweeping victory in 2024, was passed in a 220–208 vote that won the support of four Democrats and all Republicans.
The bill, called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, now goes to the Senate.
While the upper congressional chamber is controlled by the GOP, it is unlikely that it can get 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, and therefore, the bill will likely be blocked by Democrats.
Forms of identification that are acceptable under the SAVE Act include those covered under the Real ID Act of 2005, such as an enhanced U.S. driver’s license, a U.S. passport, a U.S. military identification card, a U.S. birth certificate, or any other form of a government identification that shows that the person was born in the United States.
The bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which required states to create a process to make it easier to vote in federal elections.
The measure would require states to establish a program to identify who is not a U.S. citizen and is therefore ineligible to vote in federal elections.
States can use sources such as the Social Security Administration’s Social Security Number Verification Service and the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements.
The bill reflects the GOP and Trump’s push for secure and fair elections.
“There are few issues in American politics that enjoy that level of bipartisan support. This should pass with a massive bipartisan margin, but watch, it won’t,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on April 8.
“The Democrats are contorting themselves into a pretzel trying to justify some sort of vote against this.”
Democrats have said that the SAVE Act would disenfranchise married women who change their surname.
“It is built on a false premise that there are noncitizens voting in large numbers that are swaying elections. That is a complete lie, and they know it,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said last month.
“And what is the answer to that? Make it harder for women in this country to vote, who changed their names because they got married? That is voter suppression wrapped up in some sort of immigration argument.”
Johnson said Democrats are seeking to allow those who are not U.S. citizens to vote in U.S. elections.
“There’s no mechanism in federal law, in current law, that requires states to prove citizenship,” he said.
“So even though it is currently against the law, only U.S. citizens should decide U.S. elections.”
