KEY VOTE: Cosponsorship of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (S.128)

Heritage Action supports the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (S.128) and will include COSPONSORSHIP of this legislation on our legislative scorecard.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (S.128), introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) would require uniform state standards for proof of citizenship to register to vote. The bill would also require states to establish a process to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.

The SAVE Act would require states to verify U.S. citizenship when registering individuals to vote. Currently, every state has its own rules and regulations regarding voter registration and voter roll maintenance. This has created a patchwork quilt of election laws that confuse voters and undermine our electoral system. Under current law, there is no uniform federal requirement to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. Though it is illegal for non-citizens to register to vote, in most states, potential voters do not have to prove their citizenship when registering. Only five states have instituted a proof-of-citizenship requirement, and those states’ rules differ greatly.

In 49 states (excluding North Dakota), voter registration forms include a citizenship question, but there is no requirement to verify a citizenship claim at the time of registration. The SAVE Act would apply a uniform verification standard across every state and mandate that each state establish a process to remove any non-citizens from its voter rolls.

The Biden administration’s open border policies allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to pour across the border and into our country. The exact numbers are not known, but conservative estimates suggest that there are now at least 14 million illegal aliens in the United States. Though it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote, the current protections against noncitizen voting are inadequate, especially as many states have begun issuing REAL ID-compliant licenses to illegal aliens.

The SAVE Act would help ensure that only eligible citizens vote in American elections. As some states continue to issue government IDs to illegal aliens, legislation to ensure legal votes are not diluted by ineligible ballots is critical. This legislation would make necessary updates to election laws that are lagging behind modern technology.