General Discussion

The SAVE Act would:
- make it harder for Americans to vote
- address a problem that doesn't exist
- impose new burdens on state election administrators

House Republicans passed it anyway.

The GOP duo pitched legislation that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. The absurdity of watching two notorious election deniers pretend to be deeply concerned with the integrity of elections was a detail the political world was apparently supposed to overlook.

Soon after, House Republicans followed through, introducing the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” (or “SAVE Act”). As NBC News reported, that same bill has now passed the chamber.



The measure cleared the chamber on a 220-208 vote, with four Democrats — Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii; Henry Cuellar of Texas; Jared Golden of Maine; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington — voting with the majority. No GOP members opposed the bill.

The principal concern with the legislation is that it’s a solution in search of a problem. To hear Republicans tell it, policymakers must prevent noncitizens from voting, which probably sounds reasonable. In fact, it’s so reasonable that the SAVE Act is redundant: There are literally zero locations in the United States where noncitizens can vote in federal and/or state elections.

GOP lawmakers have also argued that legislation is needed to curtail the scourge of noncitizens who are already voting. Except, Republicans have gone searching for evidence of this problem and found effectively nothing.....

What’s more, as The Associated Press reported last month, state elections officials — from both parties — have expressed practical concerns about how these costly proposed procedures would be implemented and paid for. The same article added, “Voting rights groups have said married women who have changed their name could have trouble registering under the SAVE Act because their birth certificate lists their maiden name.”....

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is championing a companion bill. The odds of the legislation overcoming a Democratic filibuster, however, are poor. Watch this space.