House Democrats are planning to oppose a bill that requires voters to prove they are U.S. citizens before participating in federal elections.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) calls for “documentary proof of United States citizenship,” such as a photo ID, passport, or birth certificate.
According to Axios, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) told House Democrats they are “urged to VOTE NO” on the measure. Clark’s office said the bill would be an “extreme burden for countless Americans” and “further intimidate election officials and overburden states’ abilities to enroll new voters.”
The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released a 22-page document detailing the bill.
It reads: “While falsely claiming the 2016 [election] was ‘stolen’ due to ‘foreign election interference,’ Democrats ignore the real threat of foreign election interference posed when noncitizens are allowed to register and vote in U.S. elections.”
It goes on to list “ample evidence” that non-U.S. citizens are participating in elections. For example, in states like Massachusetts, Ohio, and Virginia, “noncitizens have recently been removed from the voting rolls – and many of those noncitizens had voted.”
The bill would combat loopholes that allow noncitizens federal voting access by merely claiming they have citizenship without adequate proof.
“Congress must pass the SAVE Act to close the loopholes that have allowed noncitizen voting, to enhance election security, to reduce the risk of foreign election interference, and to restore Americans’ confidence in U.S. elections,” the document concludes.
Johnson also summarized major areas of the SAVE Act on social media, such as requiring “state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms,” requiring an individual to “provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections,” allows officials to “accept a wide variety of documents” making voter registration easier for citizens, provides states with access to “federal agency databases so they can remove noncitizens from voter rolls,” and other key areas.
Elon Must responded to Johnson’s thread, declaring those who oppose the measure to be “traitors.”
“What is the penalty for traitors again?” he asked.
