First appearance on Fox: House and Senate Republicans are renewing their push to crack down on non-referendum voting in federal elections, reintroducing a bipartisan bill that Republicans touted repeatedly last year.
Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) The Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Actdesigned to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Only citizens can vote in federal elections, but Republicans argue that enforcement is impossible because noncitizens and illegal immigrants are eligible for driver's licenses and other benefits in each state, which could lead to voter registration. It is claimed that.
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People arriving to vote during early voting. (Christopher Mark Yun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The bill would require states to directly obtain documentation of U.S. citizenship and identity when registering individuals to vote. It also requires states to establish programs to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and allows citizens to sue officials who do not comply with the law.
The bill passed the House last year, with five Democrats voting in favor, but stalled in the Senate. The Democratic-controlled chamber passed the spending bill without including the SAVE Act, as Republicans had hoped. President Biden had promised to veto the bill.
The bill has gained importance among Republicans after a surge in immigration to the U.S. under the Biden administration and recent announcements by states that they had identified thousands of noncitizens on their lists.
But Republicans now control the Senate and soon the White House, and President-elect Trump has expressed support for legislation that would ban non-citizens from voting.
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“Republicans have to pass a relief bill or they're going to go home and cry,” he said in July.
“America's elections belong to the American people, and their trust in those elections is the foundation of our country,” said Roy, who is introducing the bill in the House with Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.). said.
“We, as members of Congress, have an obligation to extend that trust to our fellow citizens. “We have to put in place enforcement mechanisms,'' he said.
Rep. Chip Roy will nominate Rep. Jim Jordan as speaker before the third vote in the House on January 3, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
“The House passed this important bipartisan bill last year, and we must pass it again. We look forward to working with Senate Republicans to get this policy on President Trump's desk.” .
Lee said public confidence in the integrity of elections is “absolutely essential to the legitimacy of our democratic system.”
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“The majority of Americans agree that only American citizens should be able to register and vote in American elections. The SAVE Act gives states the ability to stop illegal voter registration and protect the ballot box from foreign election interference. “It's about giving,” he said.
Meanwhile, Garbarino criticized New York City for ignoring the principle that Americans decide their elections by allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections.
“The SAVE Act maintains election integrity by requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration and ensures that this fundamental right is reserved only for American citizens,” he said. .
The bill also has support from groups such as the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, Tea Party Patriots Action, and the Immigration Accountability Project. There are 59 co-sponsors in the House. The bill was introduced in the House on Friday and is expected to be introduced in the Senate next week.
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The bill comes as Congress is expected to make immigration-related issues a top priority. The House passed the Laken-Reilly Act on Tuesday, which would require federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants convicted of theft-related crimes. It would also allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens by illegal immigration.
Fox News' Julia Johnson and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
