On July 11th, Utah Senator Mike Lee questioned his audience on X with a poll asking if Republicans in Congress should force the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act through the Senate by attaching it to the next continuing resolution, which must be passed by September 30th to avoid a government shutdown.
The poll was met with an overwhelmingly positive response, soliciting over 40,000 votes with 97.2% in support. Former President Donald Trump relayed his endorsement for the plan the very next day on his personal social media platform, Truth Social.
The SAVE Act ensures the prevention of non-citizens from voting in federal elections, and strengthens additional measures pertaining to election integrity. It passed through the House of Representatives on July 10th by a vote of 221 – 198, with every single Republican legislator in support, and only 5 Democrats, with 14 abstaining.
President Joe Biden has already announced his refusal to sign the bill upon its landing in the Oval Office. His plan to veto the legislation may be interrupted, however, if Senator Mike Lee’s plans for its attachment to the resolution come to fruition.
Senator Lee’s tactic would force fellow senators to publicly choose between keeping foreign nationals from voting in our elections or shutting down the government. Biden would then have to explain to voters why he refuses to ensure that the millions of foreign nationals pouring over the border and already inside the country cannot vote in our elections.
This should be a simple choice. The federal government should be doing all it can to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in U.S. elections. That simply means ensuring that voters provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, and requiring that the federal government share citizenship data with the states.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has urged congress do whatever it takes to pass this bill, highlighting the dangers facing election integrity in the wake of the worst migrant crisis America has ever seen.
Advancing Integrity is dedicated to securing American elections and ensuring the prevention of election fraud. The SAVE Act is a necessary move towards those goals, and we will continue to advocate for it.