President Joe Biden appears to be vowing to block legislation known as the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require applicants to prove U.S. citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections.
The SAVE Act, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by more than 100 House Republicans, would require state election officials to require voter registration applicants to show proof of U.S. citizenship before they can be added to the national voter rolls.
“Federal law has been interpreted as prohibiting states from checking whether someone is a citizen, even though the law technically says they must be a citizen,” Roy told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.
This week, the Biden administration released a statement on the SAVE Act, effectively vowing to block the bill from becoming law if it reaches the president’s desk.
“The Administration strongly opposes HR 8281, the Protecting American Voter Eligibility Act.” statement The statement from the White House reads as follows:
It is already illegal for foreigners to vote in federal elections, a federal crime punishable by prison time and fines. The purported basis of this bill is based on easily disproven lies, and furthermore, falsely claiming citizenship or voting illegally in an election carries penalties including removal from the United States and a permanent ban on entering the country. States already have effective safeguards in place to verify voter eligibility and maintain the accuracy of voter rolls. [Emphasis added]
This bill would do nothing to protect our elections and would make it much harder for everyone to register to vote, increasing the risk that voters will be removed from the voter rolls. It is clear that existing laws preventing foreign nationals from voting work as intended, and it is extremely rare for foreign nationals to break the law by voting in federal elections. [Emphasis added]
Instead, the Biden administration says Congress should pass the Voting Freedom Act, which would restore voting rights to millions of felons who have completed their sentences. The bill would also implement nationwide mail-in voting and automatic nationwide voter registration.
As Breitbart News reported, House Democrats are voting against the SAVE Act, putting vulnerable swing district winners in a tough position just months before the November election.
Requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote is extremely popular among Americans.
a vote A survey from 2022 found that 65% of Americans support requiring proof of citizenship to vote, including 48% of Democrats, 62% of swing voters and 88% of Republicans.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter. here.
