House Republicans have passed an election reform bill backed by President Donald Trump that would introduce stricter voter identification requirements, joined by a single Democrat who broke party lines to support the legislation.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America, Act, which passed by an otherwise party-line vote of 218-213 on Wednesday, would require voters to provide proof of citizenship and photo identification to cast ballots in all 50 states, among other changes. It now heads to the Senate, where it faces slim odds of garnering the 60 votes it would need to overcome a potential filibuster.
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An earlier version of the legislation passed the House last year with the backing of four Democrats. But on Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was the only member of the party to vote for the revised bill, which includes additional requirements pushed by Trump.
“I support the SAVE America Act because I believe in the fundamental principle: American citizens should decide American elections,” Cuellar said in a statement posted on X. He cited similarly strict identification standards for voters in his home state, which he said “has some of the strongest election security laws in the country.”
Cuellar also stated that already-registered voters’ registration status would not change under the bill, and that the legislation would require states to “accommodate name changes and accept multiple, commonly held forms of identification.”
Read more: Trump’s Push to ‘Nationalize’ Elections, Explained
Opponents of the bill have argued that its requirements would be challenging for many American citizens to meet. A 2023 Brennan Center for Justice survey showed that 9.1 percent of voting-age Americans––about 21.3 million people––do not have documents proving their citizenship readily available. Roughly half of U.S. citizens, meanwhile, do not have a passport. And as many as 69 million American women’s birth certificates do not reflect their legal names since changing their surnames following marriage.
Cuellar noted in his statement that the bill allows for citizens to show proof of identification through an affidavit, in lieu of traditional documents.
“At the end of the day, election security and voter access go together,” Cuellar concluded. “When Americans trust the system, our democracy grows stronger. That’s why I voted yes.”
The bill appears all-but doomed in the Senate, given Republicans’ slim majority and Democrats’ opposition to similar proposals in the past. And one Republican Senator has already openly opposed the legislation.
“When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska posted on X on Wednesday. “Now, I’m seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that. Once again, I do not support these efforts.”
Murkowski stressed that the Constitution provides “states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections,” and added that “one-size-fits-all” mandates “seldom work in places like Alaska.”
“Election Day is fast approaching. Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources,” she continued. “Ensuring public trust in our elections is at the core of our democracy, but federal overreach is not how we achieve this.”
Trump and Republican supporters of the legislation have contended that it is a necessary measure to combat fraud in elections, though research indicates such fraud is very rare.
“That’s it. That’s all that the bill does. Proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in remarks following the bill’s House passage. “This has become a bitter partisan fight and it’s madness to us … We’re hoping that some Democrats in the Senate will come to their senses and do the right thing for the people.”
In addition to the proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements, the bill would also mandate that states share voter information with the Department of Homeland Security.
Cuellar, a conservative Democrat who has been serving in the House since 2005, was charged along with his wife last year with bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. Federal authorities alleged that the couple accepted around $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company in Azerbaijan and a bank in Mexico City between 2014 and 2021. Trump pardoned the couple in December.
“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on,” Cuellar wrote in a post thanking the President.
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