The House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday aimed at ensuring that only American citizens can vote in federal elections.
The Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, sponsored by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Republican Congressman Chip Roy of Texas, was debated in the House of Representatives and passed by a final vote of 221 to 198.
Voting in favor of the bill were five Democrats: Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Rep. Don Davis (D-North Carolina), and Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-Washington).
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will face stiff opposition from Democrats, including President Biden, who has said he would veto the bill.
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The House of Representatives passed the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act by a vote of 221 to 198, which would ensure that only American citizens can vote in federal elections. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)
The bill was introduced by Roy in May, and former President Trump promoted it at a high-profile press conference at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.
Ahead of the week-long July 4 recess, Johnson circulated a memo within the House Republican conference making the case for why the bill was needed.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson campaigned for approval of the SAVE Act for weeks leading up to Wednesday’s House vote, which passed the bill 221-198. (Getty Images)
” SAVE Method “This bill will protect our elections by ensuring that only American citizens can vote in federal elections,” the House Speaker said, continuing with a series of posts explaining the bill’s goals.
Johnson said the bill would require state election officials to ask about citizenship before giving applicants a voter registration form, require proof of citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections, allow state officials to accept a variety of documents to make it easier for citizens to register to vote, and give states access to federal databases to remove non-citizens from voter rolls and verify the citizenship of those without proof.
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House members voted 221-198 to approve the SAVE Act on Wednesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Johnson also said the bill would direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to determine whether to initiate deportation proceedings for any alien found to be registered to vote in federal elections, and would require DHS to notify state election officials when an individual has naturalized and is able to exercise their new voting rights.
After the vote, Tea Party Patriots Action released a statement celebrating the passage of the SAVE Act.
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“Tea Party Patriots Action strongly supports the SAVE Act because it strengthens the integrity of our federal elections by closing loopholes that allow foreign nationals to register and vote,” the group said. “This bill would be a step forward in upholding the sanctity of our democratic process and ensuring that every vote cast in federal elections is cast exclusively by American citizens.”
Opponents of the bill argue that it is redundant and unnecessary because current U.S. law requires that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections. But the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 prohibits states from checking citizenship. Critics also say the bill goes further than denying U.S. citizens the right to vote, rather than preventing non-U.S. citizens from voting.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report.
