WASHINGTON – In the wake of President Donald Trump’s address about non-citizen voting, a national group is urging the U.S. Senate to pass the SAVE America Act.
“According to the Department of Homeland Security, and as highlighted in President Donald Trump’s July 16 televised address to the American people from the White House, over 250,000 non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada alone,” Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano said July 17. “It is illegal for non-citizens to register to vote, and yet it is a common enough practice to be detectable using available voter, Social Security Administration and immigration files and databases, and yet there is no legal mechanism in the Help America Vote Act to compel states to remove illegal aliens from voter rolls similar to how the deceased and those who change addresses are purged.”
House Republicans are working to add components of the SAVE America Act to a $95 billion spending bill through a process known as reconciliation, which would allow the GOP to bypass a Senate filibuster and pass legislation without any Democratic support. In the measure, the House Administration Committee would be given $10 billion to implement elements of the SAVE America Act, which was passed by the House in February.
“The SAVE America Act will fix that for good, additionally requiring citizenship verification upfront to register to vote, and guaranteeing voters have to present photo identification to vote,” Romano said. “The House has already done its part, and it is time for the Senate to finally follow its lead and get this critical legislation to President Trump’s desk.
“This is the United States of America, not the United States of the World where everyone from wherever is allowed to vote. To have a free country, we need secure elections and to have secure election, illegal aliens and other non-citizens must be removed from the voter rolls.”
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act would require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID at the time of voting. Instances of noncitizen registration and voting are rare, but one goal of the SAVE America Act also is to ensure that only citizens can register to vote.
The latest effort by House Republicans focus on a few key issues of the SAVE America Act.
First, no state would be required to adopt documentary proof of citizenship or photo voter ID, but states that meet the requirements would qualify for federal funding. That’s the $10 billion set aside by the House in its July 15 budget resolution.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is pushing state election officials to provide it with voter registration information such as names, birthdates, addresses and either the driver’s license numbers, the last four digits of Social Security numbers or unique Help America Vote Act identifier.
The DOJ has demanded such voter information from at least 47 states. Most states have refused to comply with the demand, and the DOJ sued 30 states as well as the District of Columbia. So far, the DOJ is 0-for-13 in those suits. Federal judges in several states also have dismissed the DOJ suits, including Arizona, California, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
The DOJ sought the information because it said it needs to monitor state compliance with federal election laws, citing Title III of the 1960 Civil Rights Act (CRA), the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
And earlier this month, the DOJ reminded state election officials they could face criminal prosecution if non-citizens vote in their elections.
