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The US House of Representatives narrowly passed a major election integrity reform bill last Wednesday, sending the legislation onwards to the Senate.

One House Democrat sided with Republicans Wednesday night to approve the SAVE America Act, an upgraded version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which was approved by the House last year but not taken up by the Senate.

The new legislation was approved by a vote of 218 to 213, nearly along party lines, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) voting with Republicans in favour of the legislation.

Proof of Citizenship and Voter ID

The previous SAVE Act, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), would have mandated proof of citizenship in the voter registration process and implemented regulations to ensure that states maintained their voter rolls properly.

The upgraded legislation also requires that photo identification be presented in order to vote in federal elections and would mandate information-sharing between state and federal officials to ensure that voter rolls are kept free of those ineligible to vote.

Appearing on last Wednesday night’s episode of Washington Watch, Roy, who also introduced the upgraded SAVE America Act, noted that conservatives are often reticent to “federalise law, but in this case, there is a direct constitutional underpinning.”

The congressman explained, “Congress is given the ability to set the rules and standards for their own elections and federal elections alongside the states, but also we have purview over immigration and border security. It’s in the Constitution.”

Roy pointed out that some states, such as Arizona, have made efforts to clean up and properly maintain their voter rolls, but have been halted by state or federal judges. “Arizona, for example, has two sets of data, two systems: one for their state and local elections, one for federal. We fix that,” he said.

“Yes, we require it at a federal level for federal elections, but we make all the data available. We let states set a lot of the rules, require voter ID, require that you check citizenship. It’s not really complex.”

“My Democratic colleagues have been trying to spin people up, making wild-eyed claims that women aren’t going to be able to vote because they make a name change when they get married, or that somehow our men and women in uniform aren’t going to be able to vote. All of those things are false,” Roy reported, addressing the arguments that Democrats have advanced against the legislation.

“The original version of the SAVE Act had protections, but we actually added some additional safeguards in this version, just to clarify and make sure that if a woman was married and her names didn’t align, she could sign an affidavit. We’ve taken care of every possible option here.”

Republicans Push Back on Criticism

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) similarly tackled Democrats’ arguments in a Washington Watch appearance last fortnight.

When Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attacked the SAVE America Act as “Jim Crow 2.0”, Griffith responded, “This is nothing like that. This is a simple process. You show an ID and you move forward. It’s just not that big a deal.”

The congressman continued,

“But for some reason, they don’t want to have American citizens, US citizens voting in elections. They want other people, apparently, to participate. They’ll say they don’t, but I mean, you have to present an ID to do so many things.”

Griffith quipped,

“I’m too old now to be carded for any kind of alcohol purchases or anything like that, but a lot of people are still being carded for alcohol or carded for tobacco sales, etc. But … you can’t ask somebody for an ID to show up at the polls and be able to vote?”

“Look, it’s pretty simple. When you boil it down, you should be an American citizen to vote in American federal elections, and you should show a voter ID,” Griffith asserted. “It’s pretty simple stuff, and the vast majority of people, including most Democrats, support having to show ID and being a US citizen in order to participate in our federal elections.”

According to a Pew Research Center survey published in August, 83% of Americans (including 95% of Republican voters and over 70% of Democrat voters) support mandatory photo ID for voting.

A Gallup poll published in late 2024 found similar results: 84% of Americans (including 98% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 84% of Independent voters) support requiring a photo ID in order to vote, and 83% (including 96% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats, and 84% of Independent voters) support requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Senate Showdown Ahead

Now that the SAVE America Act has been greenlit by the House, Roy said he hopes that the Senate will take up the legislation. “I hope we can push the Senate to actually move on it and engage a talking filibuster to do so,” the congressman shared.

In the tradition of the Senate, the filibuster allows for unlimited debate on legislation, provided that an individual or party continues speaking on the floor. Referred to now as the “talking filibuster”, the tactic has been used sparsely throughout US history, but has been deployed to keep high-stakes or controversial legislation from being approved or voted on. A supermajority of 60 senators must vote to invoke cloture, ending the period of debate.

In recent years, the custom of the filibuster has transitioned to a “silent” filibuster, when a senator merely indicates his intention to filibuster a piece of legislation. Without a 60-vote supermajority to end debate and approve the bill, the Senate Majority Leader often chooses instead simply not to bring the legislation to the floor.

In a White House press release last week, President Donald Trump urged Congress to approve the SAVE America Act.

“Nothing is more fundamental than the integrity and security of our elections. That’s why the Trump Administration has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act — commonsense legislation that requires voters to present photo ID and implements other critical measures to protect federal elections from fraud and abuse,” the White House statement said.

“This isn’t a close call. It’s time for Congress to act — and for Democrat politicians to stop standing in the way of election security.”

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Republished with thanks to The Washington Stand. Image courtesy of Adobe.