U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing growing pressure to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act as part of a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government funded beyond September 30.
The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections and is strongly opposed by the White House and Congressional Democrats.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has been an outspoken proponent of the measure and says attaching it to a CR spending bill is the best way to move it through Congress.
🚨 The US government will SHUT DOWN in 27 days if Congress doesn’t act
Pass the SAVE Act or SHUT IT DOWN.
NO EXCEPTIONS.
The SAVE Act requires:
• Proof of citizenship for voting in federal elections
• States to verify citizenship
• Removal of non-citizens from voter roles… pic.twitter.com/QUjrXWSKYz— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 3, 2024
Lee also says the SAVE Act is necessary to ensure that the 10 million plus illegal immigrants who have crossed the border, as well as the 30 million or so non-citizens in the U.S. don’t vote in the November election.
In addition to the requirement of proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, the SAVE Act also requires states to verify citizenship and to remove non-citizens from voting rolls.
The Act would also require legal action against officials who register non-citizens to vote.
Arizona counties are being sued by America First Legal over refusal to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.
/1🚨NEW LAWSUIT TO STOP ILLEGAL ALIEN VOTING
We are suing ALL 15 counties in Arizona for refusing to remove illegals from their voter rolls. This follows our lawsuit against Maricopa.
Every county in AZ is flagrantly defying its duty under state law to expunge illegal voters: pic.twitter.com/2B7warOhM3
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) September 4, 2024
While some Arizona officials maintain that voting by non-citizens is rare, concerns remain that non-citizens who are illegally registered to vote may not be the ones to actually cast their own ballots and may lead to ballot harvesting.
The Biden Administration has issued a statement of opposition to the SAVE Act, claiming that current laws are sufficient to prevent non-citizen voting and that the bill risks purging eligible voters from the rolls.
Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) told The Hill:
“If Democrats are unwilling to fund government into March … and their big hang-up is the fact that they want noncitizens to vote, let them take that to the American people. They want to shut government down over that, that should be on them.”
This only works if the neocons grow a spine and all Republican members are willing to publicly, loudly and consistently explain why they are choosing to go this path. One member flinches and it will likely backfire, no matter how necessary an action it is or how much it aligns with the majority opinion of this country’s citizens.