WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House voted Wednesday to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election bill that President Donald Trump is pushing Congress to enact.
The vote was 218-213, with Republicans unanimously voting in favor and all but one Democrat voting against. The Democrat who voted yes was Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
The 32-page legislation would require states to obtain documented proof of citizenship “in person,” such as a US passport or birth certificate, from someone in order to register them to vote in a federal election.
The bill, which was revised from an earlier version to include new demands from Trump, also requires voters to show photo identification in order to cast a ballot in person. And slaps new rules for voting by mail, requiring voters to submit a copy of eligible ID when requesting and casting an absentee ballot.
“It’s just common sense. Americans need an ID to drive, to open a bank account, to buy cold medicine, to file for government assistance,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters. “So why would voting be any different than that?”
Democrats say the legislation is designed to disenfranchise Americans, noting that voting by non-citizens is already illegal and extremely rare. Current law requires voters to certify their citizenship under oath, with criminal penalties for violators.
“This is a desperate effort by Republicans to divert attention,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., told reporters. “The so-called SAVE Act is not about voter identification, it’s about voter suppression. And they have zero credibility on this issue.”
Jeffries and other Democrats note that the GOP bill came after Trump said he wants to “nationalize” elections and “take over voting in at least — at most, 15 places.” This goes against the Constitution, which gives the states authority over the “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections” for federal office. Democrats also note that the FBI seized ballots and voter records from Fulton County, Georgia, as Trump continues to make false claims that he won the 2020 election.
Republicans point out that requiring some form of voter ID is popular. A Pew Research Center poll last August found that 83% of US adults favor “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote.” That includes 71% of Democrats and 76% of Black voters, which some Democrats and liberal advocates claim will turn voters away from it.
The bill – sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah – now goes to the Senate, where he faces a daunting path. Republicans control 53 seats, and some of them are skeptical or oppose the legislation outright.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, came out against it this week, reminding her GOP colleagues that they are against federal election mandates to states until 2021.
“When Democrats tried to advance major election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we’ve been opposed to for a long time,” she said. “Now, I’m seeing proposals like the SAVE and MEGA Act that effectively do that. Again, I do not support these efforts.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, believes the revised version of the bill is problematic, according to her office.
“Senator Collins supports the law and the constitutional interpretation that only American citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections. He also supports voter ID. That’s why he supported the original SAVE Act,” a Collins spokesman told NBC News. “There were problems with the SAVE America Act because it went much wider than these original principles and we hope that those issues are being addressed by the authors of the bill and the House.”
And Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former GOP leader who led the charge against Democrats’ failed voting rights package in 2021 and 2022, has long insisted he believes elections should be run by states without interference or federal mandates.
Even if it wins the Senate majority, the bill has no way to 60 votes to break the filibuster as Democrats strongly oppose it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said the proposal “would impose Jim Crow-type laws on the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., said Tuesday that Republicans are having a “robust” discussion about the measure, offering his support for it and promising to bring it to a vote.
“How we get to that vote remains to be seen,” Thune said, making it clear that Senate Republicans strongly oppose eliminating the 60-vote limit, despite the president’s calls to abolish it. “There is nothing close to the votes – not even close – to defeat the filibuster.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com