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- The House will consider Utah Sen. Mike Lee's bill requiring proof of citizenship for voters later this week.
- The SAVE Act mandates documented proof of citizenship for voter registration.
- Republicans support it as election security; Democrats argue it restricts voting access and is unnecessary.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives this week will consider a bill backed by Utah Sen. Mike Lee that would require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship before being allowed to register to vote.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act, was introduced by Lee last year, and the House version passed through that chamber on mostly partisan lines in July. Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, but the bill would require voters to provide documented proof of citizenship in order to vote.
The measure was all but dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled Senate but faces rosier prospects this congressional session with Republicans in narrow control of both chambers.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who is the sponsor of the House version of the SAVE Act, said the bill will be up for consideration later this week.
"It's a simple bill. It requires proof of citizenship to register to vote," he said in a post on X. "It also requires states to clean their voter rolls of noncitizens. This is critical legislation."
Lee, a Republican and frequent user of the site, responded using his personal account saying: "Stop noncitizen voting. Pass the SAVE Act."
Three top House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, issued a statement in support of the SAVE Act Monday, saying it "cements into law President (Donald) Trump's executive action to secure our voter registration process and protect the voices of American voters." Trump issued an executive order last week directing the Election Assistance Commission to require that voters show proof of their citizenship.
Trump has claimed Democrats are allowing undocumented immigrants into the country and "signing them up to vote" — claims often repeated by other Republicans — though it's rare for noncitizens to try to vote.
"There are likely many problems with America's voting system, and there is no doubt that a non-zero number of noncitizens illegally voted, but there is no good evidence that noncitizens voted illegally in large enough numbers to actually shift the outcome of elections or even change the number of electoral votes," the Cato Institute wrote in 2020.
Democrats have been largely against measures such as the SAVE Act, which they say make it harder for U.S. citizens to vote. The progressive Brennan Center for Justice estimates some 21 million Americans don't have ready access to documents to prove their citizenship.
But Republicans are casting the bill as an essential election security measure. The bill is likely to advance in the GOP-controlled House — 96 lawmakers have already signed on as co-sponsors, including Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah.
