在周四的投票中，众议院通过了《保障美国选民资格(SAVE)法案》，这是一项共和党人庆祝的法案，但引起了投票权团体和大多数国会民主党人的愤怒。
这账单以220票赞成，208票反对通过。四名民主党人与众议院的共和党多数派一起推进该法案。
该法案现在提交给参议院，参议院在去年7月众议院通过该法案后没有采取行动，这使得该法案在第118届国会结束时失效。共和党人将需要民主党的支持，以克服60票的门槛，才能在参议院通过该法案。
该措施将要求各州在登记个人为联邦选举投票之前，获得个人的“书面”公民身份证明。这项措施还要求各州将非公民从现有选民名单中删除。
非公民已经被禁止在联邦和州选举中投票，尽管一些城市和地区允许非公民在一些地方选举中投票，以及2024年选举前的选民名册审计找到罕见的实例非公民投票。
参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默，周四发布该法案在参议院“一落地就死了”/
“共和党的拯救法案读起来更像是如何压制选民的指南。“这违背了我们民主的基础，”他补充说记住我的话:参议院不会通过的。"
该法案的支持者认为，它将加强投票法律和对选举的信心，并使各州能够灵活地解决如何允许人们在文件有问题或不一致的情况下登记投票。
“尽管该法案受到了荒谬的攻击和有目的的错误信息，但我很高兴看到众议院再次在两党基础上通过了拯救法案，以确保只有美国公民才能在联邦选举中投票，”该法案的作者，德克萨斯州共和党众议员奇普·罗伊说。在一份声明中说周四。“为了维护这个共和国，我们必须坚持能够在美国大选中投票的意义。”
“你必须证明你的身份，因为只有美国公民才能投票和决定美国的选举。它已经在联邦法律中，但目前没有机制来确保法律总是得到遵守，这项措施，储蓄法案，将有助于确保它是真的，”众议院议长·迈克·约翰逊，R-La。法案通过后，他对记者说。
该法案的反对者，包括许多投票权组织，认为该法案如果成为法律，可能会剥夺公民但没有合格文件的选民的选举权，并使登记投票变得更加困难。
一些SAVE法案的反对者也对已婚妇女可能面临的挑战表示担忧，如果她们目前的姓氏与出生证明不符，如果她们必须使用出生证明作为合格文件。支持者反驳说，各州可以灵活地为受影响的人找到解决方案。
由前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马(Michelle Obama)创立的投票倡导组织“当我们都投票”(When We All Vote)周四在一份声明中批评了该法案，称其为“压制选民、减少对我们选举的参与的又一次尝试”，并预测该法案的通过“将有效终止在线、自动和邮寄选民登记。”
纽约大学法学院无党派布伦南司法中心主席迈克尔·瓦尔德曼呼吁参议院否决该法案。
“众议院刚刚通过了美国历史上最糟糕的投票法案之一。元老院必须阻止它。拯救法案将使数百万美国公民无法投票。它不应该成为法律，”沃尔德曼在周四的一份声明中写道。
布伦南中心表示，超过2100万选民将无法轻松获得所需的文件。
唐纳德·特朗普总统表示继续支持这项措施，包括在他2024年总统竞选期间。去年秋天，共和党人曾试图将该措施纳入一项持续的决议，但参议院民主党人阻止了该措施的进一步推进。
周四支持该法案通过的四名民主党人是缅因州众议员Jared Golden和华盛顿州众议员Marie Gluesenkamp Perez。得克萨斯州的亨利·库勒尔和夏威夷州的艾德·凯斯。
格卢森坎普·佩雷斯在一份声明中写道周四，“我不支持非公民在美国选举中投票。...在我们国家的选举中投票是只属于美国公民的神圣权利，我对拯救法案的投票反映了这一原则。”
但她补充说，她认为该法案“由于阻挠议事以及几个存在严重缺陷的条款，在参议院没有通过的机会。”
然而，Golden说，他“有信心”该法案提供了几个变通办法，以解决有关更名后登记投票困难的问题，并认为该立法对于确保选举安全是必要的。
“美国选举中的投票权应该是美国公民专有的。要求人们在登记投票时证明公民身份是一种简单的方法，以确保这种情况在全国范围内发生，”戈尔登说。
House passes bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, drawing ire of voting rights groups
In a vote on Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill Republicans have celebrated but that has drawn the ire of voting rights groups and most congressional Democrats.
Thebillpassed with 220 votes in favor and 208 opposed. Four Democrats joined the Republican majority in the House to advance the bill.
It now heads to the Senate, which did not act after the House passed the bill last July -- allowing it to expire at the end of the 118th Congress. Republicans will need Democratic support to overcome a 60-vote threshold to be able to pass the bill in the Senate.
The measure would require states to obtain in-person "documentary" proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote for a federal election. The measure also would require states to remove noncitizens from existing voter rolls.
Noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in federal and state elections, though some cities and localities allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections, and voter roll audits leading up to the 2024 electionsfound rare instancesof noncitizen voting.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,posted Thursdaythat the bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate/
"The Republicans' SAVE Act reads more like a how-to guide for voter suppression. It goes against the very foundations of our democracy," he added. "Mark my words: This will not pass the Senate."
Supporters of the bill have argued it will strengthen voting laws and confidence in elections and that it gives states flexibility to figure out how to allow people to register to vote if they have an issue or discrepancy with the documents.
"Despite the ridiculous attacks and purposeful misinformation spread about the bill, I am pleased to see that the House of Representatives once again passed the SAVE Act on a bipartisan basis to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, the author of the legislation,said in a statementon Thursday. "In order to preserve this republic, we must uphold what it means to be able to vote in a U.S. election."
"You have to prove your identity because only U.S. citizens should vote and decide U.S. elections. It's already in federal law, but there's no mechanism currently to ensure that that law is always followed, and this measure, the SAVE act, will help make sure that it's true," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters after the bill passed.
Opponents of the bill, including many voting rights organizations, have argued that the bill, if it becomes law, could disenfranchise voters who are citizens but do not have the eligible documents and that it will make it far tougher to register to vote.
Some opponents of the SAVE Act have also raised concerns over challenges married women could face if their current last names do not match their birth certificates, if they have to use one as a qualifying document. Supporters have countered that states will have the flexibility to figure out solutions for those affected.
When We All Vote, a voting advocacy group founded by former first lady Michelle Obama, criticized the bill in a statement on Thursday -- calling it "another attempt to silence voters and decrease participation in our elections" and predicting that its passage "would effectively end online, automatic and mail-in voter registration."
Michael Waldman, president of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, called on the Senate to reject the bill.
"The House has just passed one of the worst pieces of voting legislation in American history. The Senate must stop it. The SAVE Act would put voting out of reach for millions of American citizens. It should not become law," Waldman wrote in a statement on Thursday.
The Brennan Center said over 21 million voters would not have the required documents easily accessible.
President Donald Trump has voiced continued support for the measure, includingduring his 2024 presidential campaign. Republicans had attempted to tuck the measure into a continuing resolution last fall, but Senate Democrats blocked it from advancing further.
The four Democrats who supported the bill's passage on Thursday are Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Ed Case, D-Hawaii.
Glusenkamp Perezwrote in a statementon Thursday, "I do not support noncitizens voting in American elections. ... Voting in our nation's elections is a sacred right belonging only to American citizens, and my vote for the SAVE Act reflects that principle."
But she added that she believes the bill "stands no chance of passage in the Senate due to the filibuster, as well as several deeply flawed provisions."
Golden, however, said he was "confident" that the bill provides several accommodations to address concerns regarding difficulties in registering to vote following name changes and argued the legislation is necessary to keep elections secure.
"The right to vote in American elections should be exclusive to American citizens. Requiring people to prove citizenship when registering to vote is a simple way to ensure that's happening across the country," Golden said.
