House Passes Bill to Require Proof of Citizenship for Voting in Federal Elections

The measure is unlikely to cross by means of the Senate, and the White Home has expressed opposition to the invoice.

WASHINGTON—The Home on July 10 handed laws that might require voters to offer proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

The invoice was authorised in a largely party-line vote of 221–198.

5 Democrats—Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Donald Davis (D-N.C.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Vincente Gonzalez Jr. (D-Texas), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.)—joined all Republicans in voting for the laws. Different Democrats opposed the invoice, arguing that it’s redundant with present prohibitions on noncitizen voting.

The measure is probably going lifeless on arrival within the Democrat-controlled Senate. The White Home has expressed opposition to the invoice.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, launched by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) in Might with the assist of Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and greater than 100 different Republicans, would require individuals to offer documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in voter registration functions for federal elections. States could be barred from processing functions with out it.

Underneath the invoice, acceptable types of proof of citizenship embody a passport, delivery certificates, a government-issued photograph ID exhibiting the particular person was born in the US, and a navy ID exhibiting the identical.

It might additionally require states to purge their voter rolls of any present noncitizens, partially by giving states no-cost entry to databases run by the Division of Homeland Safety and Social Safety Administration.

In a whip discover, Home Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) suggested Democrats in opposition to voting for the laws, saying that it “irresponsibly [calls] into query the credibility of our elections.”

Democrats say that below the phrases of the invoice, it could turn into tougher for natural-born and naturalized residents to register to vote.

“It’s already unlawful below present regulation for noncitizens to register to vote or to vote in federal elections,” Ms. Clark’s workplace said.

Republicans acknowledge that federal regulation technically prohibits voting by unlawful immigrants, however they are saying there are loopholes that make it attainable for an unlawful immigrant to vote.

“Lots of people have requested, ‘Effectively, wait a minute, isn’t it already in opposition to federal regulation for a noncitizen to vote in a U.S. Election?’” Mr. Johnson stated throughout a press name on July 9.

“It’s part of the federal statutes. The issue is … there’s no mechanism to make sure that solely these registering or voting are literally residents.”

Republicans’ issues are primarily associated to the Nationwide Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), dubbed the Motor Voter regulation, which permits individuals to register to vote on the identical time that they choose up a driver’s license from a Division of Motor Autos or different state company.

Foreigners residing completely in the US are inspired to get a U.S. driver’s license; 19 states and the District of Columbia permit unlawful immigrants to acquire driver’s licenses.

The NVRA doesn’t permit states to ask for documentary proof of citizenship, as a substitute requiring that they take a person’s phrase that they’re a citizen until the person’s eligibility known as into query.

In 2013, the Supreme Courtroom dominated in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona that the NVRA, as a federal regulation, supersedes present state legal guidelines requiring documentary proof to vote—successfully banning states from imposing extra necessities for federal voter registration.

The White Home has pushed again in opposition to the invoice, saying states have already got safeguards to confirm voter eligibility and preserve the accuracy of voter rolls.

“This invoice would do nothing to safeguard our elections, however it could make it a lot tougher for all eligible People to register to vote and improve the chance that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls,” it stated in a July 8 assertion of administration coverage.