The Biden administration said Monday it strongly opposes legislation that would require a proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections, an effort by congressional Republicans to prevent millions of illegal immigrants from voting.
A statement of administration policy said the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, "is based on easily disproven falsehoods."
"This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls," the policy stated. "The evidence is clear that the current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working as intended — it is extraordinarily rare for noncitizens to break the law by voting in federal elections."
The policy stated that it already is illegal to make a false claim of citizenship to vote and is punishable by deportation and being permanently barred from entry into the U.S. The policy also stated that states "have effective safeguards in place to verify voters' eligibility and maintain the accuracy of voter rolls."
The SAVE Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of U.S. citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for federal office, and for other purposes.
"The President has been clear: He will continue fighting to protect Americans' sacred right to vote in free, fair, and secure elections, including by calling on Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act," the policy stated. "If House Republicans really want to do something about securing our border and fixing our broken immigration system, they should vote on the border deal that the President negotiated with a bipartisan group of Senators – this this would provide immigration officials the resources they need to do their jobs and be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border that we have seen in decades."
A report by The Heritage Foundation said the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, introduced in 2021, would give liberal bureaucrats in the Department of Justice the power to veto changes of polling place locations, voter ID and registration requirements, and the boundary lines in redistricting in every state.
It would also amend the Voting Rights Act to change legal standards to make it difficult for states to defend themselves against meritless litigation filed by advocacy organizations to void state laws that protect election integrity.
The Foundation for Government Accountability said the Freedom to Vote Act, sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in 2021 and reintroduced this year by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., would seize the authority of states to regulate voter registration and the voting process by requiring states to implement a specific type of early voting, automatic voter registration, same-day registration, online voter registration, and no-fault absentee balloting.
"We in the @HouseGOP have our own SAP — a Statement of Awesome Policy — the common-sense requirement that we require proof of American citizenship to register to vote in federal elections," Roy posted on his X account in response to the Biden administration's statement. "Democrats oppose what over 80% of Americans want."
In a post Monday on his X account, Lee wrote: "The SAVE Act would prevent non-Americans from illegally voting, protecting the votes of American citizens. The only reason to oppose it is because you want non-Americans illegally voting."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.