By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote on Wednesday on a bill requiring proof of U.S. citizenship in November’s midterm elections, which Democrats have denounced as a ploy to hurt their chances in a contest that will determine control of Congress.
The SAVE America Act is the latest version of legislation that first appeared during the 2024 presidential campaign, driven by President Donald Trump’s false claims that large numbers of people in the country voted illegally in federal elections.
A similar measure has twice passed the House — last April and in 2024 — with the support of a small number of Democrats. But he died in the Senate.
The House vote on the bill comes barely a week after Trump called on Republicans to “take over” elections in more than a dozen locations. The bill would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote in the midterms and would impose criminal penalties on election officials who register anyone without the required documentation.
Republicans also added a photo ID requirement for subsequent federal elections for people who vote at the polls or by mail-in ballot. They cite polls, including a Pew Research Center poll showing that 83 percent of voters, including 71 percent of Democrats, carry a voter photo ID.
REPUBLICANS BOUGHT FOR SPECIAL ELECTION LOSSES
Democratic Party leaders say the legislation attempts to suppress voting and undermine their electoral chances at a time when they are favored by independent analysts to take control of the House. Republicans have been rattled by a string of Democratic special election victories, including one for the Texas state Senate, seen as a wake-up call.
“Republicans are trying to lay the groundwork to undermine the midterm elections, which I think they’re worried about losing on the merits,” said Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who compared the citizenship requirement to poll taxes once used in southern states to discourage poor blacks and whites from voting.
If passed by the House, the bill would face tough odds in the Republican-led Senate, where it would need Democratic support to reach a 60-vote margin for approval. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer denounced it as “Jim Crow 2.0.”
It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. Left- and right-wing independent groups, as well as state election officials, considered such a vote extremely rare.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law warned that the SAVE America Act could deny voting to millions of US citizens who do not have easy access to passports, birth certificates and other documents proving their citizenship.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise described the citizenship requirement as a “real common sense” standard to protect Americans.
“Everybody understands what that means,” Scalise told reporters Tuesday. “If someone steals your vote, then they cancel your vote.”
Democracy advocates say the legislation is also part of a broader battle between the Trump administration and state governments that has included withholding federal funds, deploying National Guard troops and the FBI’s search of a Georgia county elections office.
“We have checks and balances that include state and local officials who act as a check against federal overreach,” said Mai Ratakonda, program director for election protection at the United States Center for Democracy, a nonpartisan group that works to protect free and fair elections. “That’s what the federal government is trying to undermine.”
Republican leaders say the legislation is needed to restore public confidence in the election system and accuse Democrats of opposing it because they want non-citizens who entered the United States under President Joe Biden to vote illegally.
“There’s only one logical reason why Democrats oppose this. They want people to participate in elections that they shouldn’t have to. That’s what the wide open border was about,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Tuesday.
Democrats say any drop in electoral confidence resulted from Trump’s repeated false claims about the non-citizen vote and the stolen 2020 election.
“Republicans have created distrust in the election by making claims of nonexistent fraud,” U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, told ABC News in a recent interview. He described the SAVE America Act as a “voter suppression” law.
Republicans are also preparing a second, broader election bill, called the Make Elections Great Again Act, which would mandate the use of paper ballots, restrict mail ballots and ban ranked-choice voting in federal general elections. It was examined at a hearing before the House Administration Committee on Tuesday.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)