A bill aimed at ensuring election integrity is anticipated to return to Congress this week. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), seeks to “amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office.”
Last year, the GOP-led House passed the SAVE Act—which aims to prompt states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls—but it never received a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Now that Republicans control both chambers of Congress, on Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced via a post on X that the lower chamber “will vote on the SAVE Act to ensure ONLY American citizens vote in American elections.” The developments follow President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order threatening to withhold federal funds from states that do not require proof of citizenship for registering to vote in federal elections.
Last July, only five Democrats joined the Republican majority in passing the SAVE Act in the House. Critics, including those from the former Biden administration, claimed the legislation was unnecessary and would place an undue burden on eligible voters. However, a report from Johnson highlighted a “loophole” in the National Voter Registration Act, noting that states often do not require proof of citizenship when registering voters for federal elections. The report cited instances of non-citizens appearing on voter rolls in states like Massachusetts, Ohio, and Virginia.
During an interview on “The Will Cain Show” from Fox News, Roy pushed back on his bill’s detractors. “People in the radical Left are trying to say, ‘Oh! This is going to prevent, like, married women from voting because if they get married, their name changes.’ … It’s all bogus. It’s all a lie made up by the radical Left. All this will do is prevent illegals from voting,” Roy said.
