OAN Staff James Meyers
11:40am – Thursday, April 10th, 2025
Second time, House Republicans passed a bill that required voters to prove their citizenship in order to vote in federal elections. Previous attempts were blocked by the then democratically-led Senate.
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Title bill Protects the American Voter Qualification (SAVE) Act It was passed by 220-208 votes.
It aims to prevent non-citizens' votes.
The vote included four Democrat representatives who sidked with Republicans. Representatives are Hawaii's lawsuits, Henry Culler of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, and Marie Grusenkamp Perez of Washington.
The bill requires applicants to present documentary proof of US citizenship, such as a valid passport, birth certificate, or other form of identification document that certifies that the individual is a US citizen.
“There's nothing controversial about saying that only citizens should be able to guarantee votes only,” said Chip Roy, R-Texas, the Republican leader who introduced the bill, on Thursday.
“Under the Constitution there is nothing sacred than allowing people to speak up in elections of people who represent them in Washington and in the nation,” Roy said.
“When it is damaged, people lose faith in the very institution that this is being built on. This law is designed to restore that faith and save the integrity of the election to save the election.”
Meanwhile, Democrats have sought to argue that the bill would make Americans even more strict for votes.
Rep. Joseph Morell (DN.Y.) argued that older people are unlikely to have the documents they need, and that “even military IDs” are not recognized as acceptable documents under the law.
“Republicans force Americans into paperwork nightmares and fill voter registrations under a pile of bureaucracy and deficits,” he said.
“Under the SAVE Act, most Americans are unable to register to vote using their actual IDs. Furthermore, under the SAVE Act, almost 70 million American women cannot vote using their birth certificates just because they changed their names at marriage,” he added.
“And the SAVE Act also incurs rapid economic costs for American citizens. Yes, the SAVE Act allows Americans to use their passports to register for the ballot. However, half of all Americans don't have a passport, and a passport costs $130.”
Last year, Republicans first introduced the bill, with speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying that it is time-consuming and difficult to prove that illegal aliens are voting in US elections, but it is both “intuitive” knowing.
Additionally, many Democratic-led states, such as California, generally do not need to show voting identification.
“We all know intuitively that many illegal actors are voting in federal elections. But that's not something that can be easily proven. We don't have that number. This law can do it for us – it can prevent it.
After being previously blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate, the bill may now have a new opportunity to get approval.
This bill should be taken in a more favorable way under the GOP majority, especially as it is defended by President Donald Trump. However, there may be a need to overcome Democrats.
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