Donald Trump was re-elected for a second term as president in November. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pushed for the passage of the SAVE Act which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The bill passed the House of Representatives in July 2024, but has yet to come up for a vote in the Senate.
Will the SAVE Act be revisited by lawmakers in 2025 with Republicans in control of the White House and both houses of Congress?
In September 2024, the House failed to pass a six-month GOP-backed government spending bill, which included an amendment similar to the SAVE Act which targeted noncitizen voting. The law would require documented proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. It should be noted it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
With the election nearing at the time, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated the unlikelihood of a spending bill passing that included SAVE Act language.
The bill was defeated in the House by a count of 202 to 220, with 14 Republicans voting against it and three Democrats voting in favor.
Opposition to the SAVE Act
“If [Donald Trump] got what he wanted, there would absolutely be a shutdown,” according to a GOP source quoted by The Hill. Democrats deemed the SAVE Act a nonstarter and Batchelor-Causey, Democratic Political Strategist at Hill and State Strategies, agreed. The proposal that Trump introduced is a non-issue according to Bachelor-Causey.
John Pelissero, senior director for news and public relations at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said that the bill has nothing to do with funding the government.
Pelissero said, “If the bill was passed, it would have created a perception that a significant number of noncitizens are voting.” Federal law requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote. If an immigrant was to vote illegally without proof of citizenship, then he or she would be subjected to potential deportation or jail time.
Pelissero called this proposal unethical because “Trump wanted to place partisan interest over public interest. It’s not right for public officials to try to halt the normal operations of government in order to achieve some political victory about essentially a non-issue.”
Civil rights groups wrote in a letter advancement of the SAVE Act is the most recent example of a calculated effort to make voter registration and voting more difficult for immigrant minorities. They stated “the SAVE ACT is intended to elicit irrational fear of the growing number of citizens of color. Congress should be focusing on passing pro voter reforms to ensure everyone regardless of color can participate in our democracy.”
What happened in Oregon?
An article from Citizen Action Force states since President Joe Biden took office, countless illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. and have been given the opportunity to vote in federal elections.
For example, in Oregon, over 1,200 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote according to a report from KGW News. The number represents a small percentage of total registered voters in the state.
Oregon Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham stated Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek should direct Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade to examine all voter registrations to ensure Oregon’s voter rolls are accurate. Her solution was for the DMV to take proactive steps to prevent this discrepancy from happening in the future.
“The governor ordered that the DMV provide updated training for all relevant staff, compile an after-action report within two weeks to find out how the errors occurred and document what they’ve done to correct the issue, do a ‘full-scale data integrity review’ overseen by a panel of third-party data experts by the end of the year, and establish a data quality control calendar in coordination with the secretary of state,” according to KGW8.
At the time, Kotek said this oversight didn’t impact the 2024 presidential election.
Bonham and his Republican colleagues in the Oregon Senate called for formal legislative briefings on steps being taken to address the issue. There is no evidence of the briefings taking place.
Bonham alluded to a larger, systematic issue at play as he pointed out the only reason the event was public knowledge is due to an inquiry from a national think tank.
What happened in New York City?
In 2024, the New York City Council appealed a lower court decision striking down a law to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. The law was passed by the City Council in late 2021 and signed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. It was ruled as unconstitutional by an appellate court in February 2024.
Appellate Judge Paul Wooten wrote in the 3-1 majority decision the law violated the “New York State Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law.”
City Council spokesperson Rendy Desamours said the reason for the reform is to empower “New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process.”
Conclusion
The SAVE Act would not help the economy, as Peliserro alluded to. Rather, it would just create the perception this is occurring everywhere. This is an attempt to appeal to the public’s concern about out-of-control illegal immigration.
Should the focus be on the perception of immigration control, or the economy? Does this event set a precedent of what we have seen Trump do in the past, focusing on partisan issues over those of public interest?
As for the situation in Oregon, Senate Leader Bonham’s reaction to Gov. Kotek lacks evidence of how the issue is being addressed by his Republican colleagues. His solution appears to be more potentially more effective than Kotek’s because it examines all voter registrations, ensuring no accurate or illegal votes.
This is reminiscent of Trump’s consistent claim of voter fraud in the presidential elections when he was on the ballot. The suggestion created a stir on social media and new outlets like Fox News. In 2017, Trump signed an executive order to create a commission to promote honest and fair elections in response to these assertions.
This is a non-issue that could turn into one due to the ideological make-up of the Supreme Court. If Donald Trump did not nominate Republican judges to be on the Supreme Court, then it is possible the law for noncitizens to be allowed to vote would have been passed.
The positive impact of letting noncitizens vote would be an increase in civic engagement, while the downside is increased “native” resentment of immigrants.
Editor’s note: Spelling corrections have been made to this article since its original publication.
