By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require proof of US citizenship in November’s midterm elections, which Democrats said would impose unnecessary burdens on US voters and concentrate electoral power in the hands of President Donald Trump.
Lawmakers voted 218-213 to approve the SAVE America Act, with only one Democrat joining Republicans in supporting the measure. The action sends the legislation to the Republican-led Senate, where it is expected to receive a vote but is unlikely to garner the 60-vote majority needed for passage.
The bill is the latest version of election legislation first floated during the 2024 presidential campaign, driven by Trump’s false claims that large numbers of people in the country illegally were voting in federal elections. A similar measure passed the House twice – last April and in 2024 – only to die in the Senate.
The House vote came barely a week after Trump called on Republicans to “take over” the elections in more than a dozen places. The bill would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote mid-term and impose criminal penalties on election officials who register someone without the necessary documentation.
Republicans also added a photo ID requirement for people voting at the polls or by mail in subsequent federal elections. They cited surveys including a Pew Research Center poll showing that 83% of voters, including 71% of Democrats, return photo ID for voters.
REPUBLICANS WORRY ABOUT LOSING SPECIAL ELECTIONS
House Speaker Mike Johnson described the bill as “common sense legislation to just make sure that American citizens decide American elections.”
But the leaders of the Democratic Party say that the legislation tries to suppress the vote and weaken their electoral chances at a time when they are favored by independent analysts to take control of the House. Republicans have been rocked by a string of Democratic special election victories, including one for the Texas state Senate seen as a wake-up call.
“The SAVE America Act is part of a comprehensive Republican strategy to consolidate power this year. Speaker Johnson wants to make it harder for Americans to vote, easier for Washington Republicans to control how elections are run,” said Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House committee that oversees elections.
It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. Independent groups on the left and right, as well as state election officials, have found such a vote to be extremely rare.
The left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School has warned that the SAVE America Act could disenfranchise millions of US citizens who do not have ready access to passports, birth certificates and other documents proving their citizenship.
Democracy advocates say the legislation is also part of a larger fight between the Trump administration and state governments that has included “the withholding of federal funds, the deployment of National Guard troops and the FBI’s search of a county election office in Georgia.
“We have checks and balances in place that include state and local officials who act as a check against federal excess,” said Mai Ratakonda, program director for election protection at the United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan group that works to safeguard free and fair elections. “That’s what the federal government is trying to undermine.”
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-in ballots and ban ranked-choice voting in federal general elections. It was examined during a hearing before the Administrative Committee of the House on Tuesday.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)