House Republicans on Thursday passed legislation that would require people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a measure designed to halt illegal immigrants from participating in federal elections.
The House GOP also passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or SAVE Act last year, but the measure was ignored by the Democrat-led Senate. Despite the new GOP majority in the Senate, the bill will still have a steep climb to get the 60 votes needed to survive in the upper chamber.
The bill was originally introduced ahead of the 2024 election cycle and keyed in on two top priorities for the GOP and President Trump: illegal immigration and election integrity.
It was also meant to serve as a rebuke of Democrats, who Republicans accused of pushing non-citizens to participate in elections.
The legislation from Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, would amend the National Voter Registration Act to require people to register in person with documents that prove they are citizens such as a Real ID, passport or other identification that shows their place of birth.
The law currently does not require proof of citizenship but does ask registrants to attest that they are citizens or face penalties.
Mr. Roy pitched the bill as a way to restore faith in the country’s election system. He said there was nothing controversial about ensuring that only U.S. citizens could vote.
“The point of this bill is to ensure that we guarantee only citizens can vote by allowing those states to be able to check, by having systems, federal systems be open to the states to be able to check, and to require proof of citizenship to be able to register,” he said.
The bill would also require election officials to share information with the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to determine voter eligibility. If the agencies determine someone is ineligible to vote, election officials would have to remove the noncitizens from voter rolls.
Mr. Roy’s legislation again easily passed the House in a 220 to 208 vote, with four Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Ed Case of Hawaii and Henry Cuellar of Texas — breaking with their party to support it.
While it is already illegal under federal law for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and for people to register to vote if not eligible, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said that the SAVE Act would give current law more bite.
“It’s already in federal law, but there’s no mechanism currently to ensure that that law is always followed,” he said. “And this measure, the SAVE act, will help make sure that it’s true.”
Republicans also viewed the passage of the bill as a way to prevent Mr. Trump’s recently signed executive order, which similarly required proof of citizenship to vote, from being reversed in the courts or by future administrations.
Democrats argued that the bill wasn’t directed toward non-citizen voters, but instead geared toward disenfranchising Americans trying to register to vote.
Rep. Joe Morelle, New York Democrat, warned that it would affect a broad swath of Americans, including military service members and people in rural areas.
“Think about it, just to exercise your fundamental inalienable rights as a citizen of this country, Republicans would force Americans into a paperwork nightmare,” Mr. Morelle said.
Numerous civil rights organizations condemned the bill.
The ACLU, which has taken legal action against Mr. Trump’s executive order, said the SAVE Act would disproportionately affect low-income Americans, people of color, first-time voters and “as many as 69 million women” who have married and changed their name, but whose birth certificate doesn’t match.
“This isn’t about protecting voters or our elections, it’s about politicians who want to protect themselves and pick and choose their voters,” ACLU National Democracy Campaigns Director Molly McGrath said in a statement. “But that’s not how democracy works. The Senate must reject this bill and instead ensure that every eligible citizen can easily cast their ballot.”
