The thing that never happens happened again!
Four noncitizens were charged on Friday for allegedly “illegally voting in federal elections and making false statements applying for U.S. citizenship,” FBI Director Kash Patel announced. The suspects allegedly voted in the 2020 presidential election, 2022 midterms, and 2024 presidential election cycles.
The arrests only underscore the need for the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act. The SAVE America Act would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to require documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote and voter ID to cast a ballot in federal elections. As of right now, the only thing standing between a noncitizen and casting a vote is a tiny square box on a federal registration form requiring an applicant attest under penalty of perjury that they are telling the truth about their citizenship status (in other words, the honor system).
The legislation passed the House but has stalled in the Senate. Just recently Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) claimed on X that Senate Majority Leader John Thune was “no longer considering the SAVE America Act.” A congressional source, however, told The Federalist’s Matt Kittle that Luna’s comments were “not true” and that the legislation is “still the pending business in the Senate.”
[READ NEXT: These 4 States Already Enacted SAVE Act Look-Alikes While John Thune Does Failure Theater]
Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio reported that Thune said he would see “about getting [the SAVE America Act] going” “if we don’t have other pressing stuff in front of us that has to get done.”
But what could be more pressing than an insecure election system that makes it possible for noncitizens to register to vote and vote?
Friday’s charges aren’t the first levied against noncitizens for allegedly voting in elections — and they certainly won’t be the last.
Just this past January, Alabama found 25 noncitizens had illegally cast a ballot while there were 186 noncitizens who were registered to vote. Alabama was able to detect the alleged illegal activity using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program that lets states cross-reference voter rolls in their state with federal records. But the SAVE Program is not enough to safeguard the integrity of our elections, especially when it is optional and several states opt out.
