WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass the Save America Act, the sweeping election bill President Donald Trump is pushing through Congress.
The vote was 218 to 213, with Republicans unanimously voting in favor and all but one Democrat voting against. One of the Democrats who voted in favor was Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
The 32-page legislation would require states to “in person” obtain proof of citizenship documents, such as a U.S. passport or birth certificate, from someone in order to register them to vote in federal elections.
The bill builds on an earlier version to include Trump’s new requirement that voters also show photo identification to vote in person. It also establishes new rules for mail-in ballots, requiring voters to submit a copy of a qualifying ID when requesting and casting an absentee ballot.
“This is just common sense. Americans need an ID to drive, to open a bank account, to buy cold medicine, to apply for government assistance,” Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters. “So why should voting be any different?”
Democrats say the legislation is aimed at disenfranchising Americans, noting that voting by non-citizens is already illegal and extremely rare. Current law requires voters to take an oath to prove their citizenship, and violators are subject to criminal penalties.
“This is a desperate attempt by Republicans to distract,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters. “The so-called ‘rescue bill’ is not about voter ID, it’s about voter suppression. They have zero credibility on the issue.”
Jeffries and other Democrats noted that the Republican bill comes after Trump said he wanted to “nationalize” elections and “take over voting rights in at least a lot of 15 places.” This conflicts with the Constitution, which gives states authority over the “time, place and manner of holding elections” for federal offices. Democrats also pointed to the FBI’s seizure of ballots and voter records in Fulton County, Georgia, as Trump continues to falsely claim that he won the 2020 election.
Republicans noted that requiring some form of voter ID is popular. A Pew Research Center poll last August found that 83% of U.S. adults favored “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo ID to vote.” This includes 71% of Democrats and 76% of black voters, with some Democrats and liberal supporters claiming that black voters will be disenfranchised as a result.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, now heads to the Senate, but it faces a difficult road. Republicans control 53 seats, some of whom are skeptical or outright opposed to the legislation.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, stood up against the approach this week and reminded her fellow Republicans of their stated opposition to the recent mandate for states to conduct federal elections in 2021.
“When Democrats tried to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in their opposition because it would federalize elections, something we have long opposed,” she said. “Now, I see proposals like the SAVE Act and MEGA that can effectively do this. Again, I do not support these efforts.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, sees problems with the revised version of the bill, according to her office.
“Senator Collins supports the legal and constitutional interpretation that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections. She also supports voter ID. So she supported the original SAVE Act,” a Collins spokesperson told NBC News. “There are problems with the Save America Act because it is much broader than these original principles, and we hope the bill’s authors and the House of Representatives will address these issues.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long maintained that he believes elections should be conducted by states without federal interference or authorization.
Even if it did win the Senate majority, the bill would be unable to get the 60 votes to break a filibuster due to strong Democratic opposition.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the proposal “would impose segregation laws across the country and therefore be dead on arrival in the Senate.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday that Republicans are having a “robust” discussion on the measure, expressing support and pledging to bring it to a vote.
“How we proceed with the vote remains to be seen,” Thune said. He also made it clear that Senate Republicans were firmly opposed to eliminating the 60-vote threshold, despite the president’s calls for it to be abolished. “There’s nowhere close to a vote — not even close — to stop the filibuster.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
