The House passed a bill that would require voters to present proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
It’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, but there is no federal law that requires documented proof of citizenship to vote. Fourteen states do not have voter ID laws at all.
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Four Democrats joined all 216 Republicans present in voting for the bill.
“There is nothing more sacred under the Constitution than ensuring that the people are able to have the voice in the election of the people that represent them in Washington, and throughout the country,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the bill, said.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act passed during the 118th Congress but never made it through the Democratic Senate. The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act so that states would be required to obtain proof of citizenship in person from people who are registering to vote.
It would also require states to remove illegal aliens from existing voter rolls while allowing American citizens to sue election officials who don’t follow proof of citizenship requirements.
States already have procedures in place to cull voter rolls of the dead, those who have moved, and illegal aliens. But it’s not done often enough, and history has shown that it’s not always thorough.
Election officials, voting rights advocates and Democrats have warned that the SAVE Act would disenfranchise eligible voters who don’t have easy access to identification documents.
“My Republican colleagues crafted and passed one of the most damaging voter suppression bills in modern history. There’s no doubt that women, military members, and people of color will be disproportionately impacted,” Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., the ranking member on the House Administration Committee, said in a statement. “The fight to stop this bill — to protect Americans’ sacred right to vote — is not over. I will do everything in my power to ensure every eligible American has access to the ballot box.”
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They trotted out the same argument in Georgia when that state amended its voter laws, only to see turnout in the black community soar. Turnout in the white community also increased, which led activists to call attention to the “racial gap” in voting. This was due to black voters staying home rather than any loss of the black vote due to the voter laws.
Morelle offered some ridiculous reasons for voting against the SAVE Act.
“Republicans would force Americans into a paperwork nightmare, burying voter registration under a mountain of bureaucracy and red tape,” he said.
“Under the SAVE Act, most Americans would be unable to register to vote using their Real ID. Further, under the SAVE Act, almost 70 million American women will be unable to register to vote using their birth certificate simply because they changed their name upon marriage,” he added.
“And the SAVE Act will also have a steep financial cost to American citizens, because, yes, the SAVE Act does allow Americans to use their passports to register to vote. But half of all Americans do not have a passport, and a passport costs $130.”
The passport gambit by Democrats is easily debunked by pointing out that there are several means of identification that a citizen can use to register to vote, and passports are only one.
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I would hardly call sending away for a new birth certificate being “buried under a mountain of bureaucracy and red tape.” The gentleman has a gift for paranoid fantasies.
Winston Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.” It takes work to remain free, and those who realize that will have no problem doing what it takes to vote.
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