Just four Dems vote to keep non-citizens out of US elections

Four Democrats joined House Republicans to pass legislation Thursday that calls for stricter regulations to ensure only U.S. citizens are participating in federal elections.

The House of Representatives voted 220 to 208 in favor of the H.R. 22, more popularly known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The bill would require states to obtain proof of citizenship prior to registering an individual for any federal election and also requires state officials to remove all non-citizens from existing voter rolls.

Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Ed Case of Hawaii were the only Democrats to vote in favor of the bill.

“The SAVE Act is a crucial step to ensure only American citizens vote in American elections — without exception,” GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson said to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I’m proud to stand with President Trump and my Republican colleagues to defend the integrity of our elections and put Americans first.”

“The Left will make every excuse to continue rigging elections, but we’re taking our country back — one commonsense policy at a time,” Jackson continued.

The SAVE Act was heavily backed by the GOP, with 216 Republicans voting in favor of the bill. However, four Democrats joined their GOP colleagues in supporting the legislation Wednesday.

In the run-up to the vote, Democratic House lawmakers claimed the legislation would make it harder for individuals without proper documentation to vote, and made repeated claims that it would keep married women, in particular, from voting because their surnames no longer match the names on their birth certificates. However, GOP members pointed out the bill has provisions to allow married women to register to vote in federal elections.

“Folks, read the bill, page 14,” said Florida GOP Rep. Kat Cammack during a House debate Thursday. “If you are registering to vote, there is a process by which the states establish. If you are already registered to vote, you are fine.”

“Read the bill. Stop insulting women,” Cammack said.

Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, the sponsor of the SAVE Act, had previously introduced it in the last congressional session, but it died in the Democrat-controlled Senate. However, the bill stands a much better chance of landing on President Donald Trump’s desk now that the GOP is in control of both chambers of Congress.

The legislation would bar state governments from accepting or processing any application to register to vote in a federal election unless an applicant provides documentary proof of their American citizenship, according to a summary of the bill. The legislation also specifies what documents are deemed acceptable proof of American citizenship, such as documentation that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005.

Despite pushback by Democratic critics for such laws, citizenship verification regulations are incredibly popular among the American electorate. Additionally, numerous examples of foreign nationals landing on voting rolls and participating in federal elections have been uncovered in recent months.

A Chinese national allegedly registered to vote and cast a ballot in the 2024 general election, according to statements made in October by the Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office and the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office. Angelica Maria Francisco and Carlos Abreu — from Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, respectively — are both illegal migrants who recently pled guilty to assuming the identities of American citizens and voting in federal elections.

Government officials in Alabama, Virginia, Texas and Ohio identified as many as 17,000 non-citizens on state voting rolls and worked to remove them from the books before the 2024 general election. America First Legal, a Washington, D.C.-based organization aligned with the Trump administration, sued Maricopa County, Arizona, in August after the county recorder allegedly failed to purge 35,000 registered voters who did not provide proof of citizenship.

The Biden administration pushed back immensely against GOP state efforts to purge their voter rolls of non-citizens in the run-up to the last presidential election. The Biden-led Justice Department sued Virginia and Alabama, successfully road-blocking their efforts to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.

Proponents of allowing non-citizens to vote in American elections suffered a major defeat when the New York Court of Appeals in March struck down a law passed by the liberal-dominated New York City Council allowing hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals the ability to vote in local elections. Had the bill been allowed to remain in effect, roughly 800,000 lawful permanent residents in NYC would’ve been able to participate in local elections.

The Save Act now heads to the Senate, where GOP-control of the upper chamber is more likely to carry it to the White House. GOP Sen. Mike Lee is the sponsor of the bill’s companion version in the Senate.

“Public trust in the integrity of our elections is absolutely essential for the legitimacy of our democratic institutions,” Lee said when the legislation was re-introduced in January. “A vast majority of our countrymen agree: only American citizens should be able to register and vote in American elections.”

“The SAVE Act gives states the ability to prevent illegal voter registration and protect the ballot box from foreign election interference,” Lee continued.

The 47th president has long signaled support for the legislation. When reached for comment about the SAVE Act, a spokesman for the White House referred the DCNF to Trump’s past statements about the bill.

“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social in September. “Only American Citizens should be voting in our Most Important Election in History, or any Election!”

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