On Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing on "The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Noncitizen Voting." It provided Roy with an opportunity to discuss his bill, the SAVE Act, to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in our federal elections.
As Roy reminded at the start of the hearing, "President Biden and Kamala Harris' border crisis poses a direct threat to this fundamental right" of voting. Such a move, Roy said, is "intentional," especially when it comes to Democratic opposition to HR 2-the Secure the Border Act and the SAVE Act, emphasizing "it's all by design."
When talking about the impact of a lack of legislation like the SAVE Act, Roy warned that "noncitizens will vote in the 2024 election, because our system not only makes it easy to do, but incentivizes doing so!"
Roy also pointed out that it doesn't take many votes to change the outcome of the election, citing a 2014 study by Old Dominion University and George Mason University. According to that study, 6.4 percent of noncitizens—or 1.2 million at the time—illegally voted in the 2008 election. Those votes may have tipped the U.S. Senate race in Democrat Al Franken's favor in Minnesota, as well as Barack Obama's win in North Carolina.
"We can debate the merits of that study, but the point remains: it would only take a few thousand noncitizens voting, much less than than 1.2 million estimated to impact the outcome of our razor-thin elections," Roy pointed out.
After reminding how close the 2020 election was in many states, Roy reminded that "Democrats know this, which is why they try to downplay and distract from the issue."
While Democrats' point that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote is "technically true," Roy also reminded that the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) prohibits states from verifying citizenship. "This means it is impossible for states to enforce the law on the front end," Roy explained. "Consequently, the primary defense against noncitizens registering to vote is a literal box-checking exercise on a voter registration form," as "the only barrier that the American people have to ensuring that only citizens vote!"
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Roy also insisted that "we know the NVRA is broken because noncitizens are registering to vote and voting!" He mentioned that of the over 6,500 noncitizens removed from the Texas voter rolls since 2021, "over 1,900 had voting histories. He referenced other red states as well, though such states don't always have an easy time. "The states that are doing the right thing and removing noncitizens from their voter rolls are fighting with one arm tied behind their backs because they get almost no help from the federal government," he explained. Meanwhile, "Democrat-run states appear to have made little to no effort to clear their voter rolls of noncitizens."
Roy made a further pitch for the SAVE Act, as a bill "to ensure that noncitizens, whether knowingly or unknowingly, do not take advantage of our flawed registration system." He explained his bill as "a simple" one and cited a poll showing that over 80 percent of Americans support requiring proof of citizenship to vote.
Chairman @RepChipRoy opens today’s Constitution Subcommittee hearing, detailing how noncitizens and illegal aliens are voting in our elections.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) September 10, 2024
The Biden-Harris Administration's open-border policies will upend our system for years to come.
🎥 pic.twitter.com/ST7ity6U7P
Later in the hearing, Roy and one of the witnesses, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, also discussed how states are handicapped without the SAVE Act, despite how the Constitution gives states primary jurisdiction over their elections.
If Florida passed a law requiring proof of citizenship before voting in federal elections, they would not be able to enforce that and would be in violation of the NVRA, since documentation cannot be required on the frontend. Rather, removing the person has to happen on the backend. Florida also had to sue to get access to information, Byrd confirmed to Roy, which is a costly barrier and not even adequate.
Speaking about the lack of the SAVE Act and being able to competently carry out his duties as the secretary, Byrd lamented that "it makes it very difficult to fulfill my constitutional duties."
The SAVE Act closes dangerous loopholes and safeguards our democracy.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) September 10, 2024
WATCH: @RepChipRoy lays out the importance of passing the SAVE Act to protect our elections from noncitizen interference. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zb267BrkUW
Sure enough, attempts to "downplay and distract from the issue" that Roy had warned about took place during Tuesday's hearing.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) lambasted such concerns about noncitizens voting as a "false premise," and claimed it was "in order to advance dangerous legislation like the SAVE Act and other burdensome, unnecessary measures."
"In fact, it is measures like the SAVE Act that represent the true threat to the right of American citizens to vote," he claimed.
Democrat Jerrold Nadler:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 10, 2024
"Dangerous legislation like the SAVE Act...requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections!" pic.twitter.com/Jv2GCL7Bfb
There was also an example from Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), the Subcommittee's ranking member.
"The SAVE Act would impose unnecessary obstacles upon the ability of American citizens to register and vote and would do real tangible harm to our democracy by preventing American citizens from voting, by causing chaos at election bureaus, and by undermining faith in election results," she claimed.
Scanlon also claimed that the bill is "part and parcel with Republicans' ongoing effort to undermine faith in our elections and to create unnecessary barriers to casting a vote, particularly by suppressing the votes of young people, communities of color, and language minorities."
Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon is concerned that "young people, communities of color, and language minorities" will be prevented from voting if voter ID is required in order to cast a vote.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 10, 2024
"It would impose unnecessary obstacles..." pic.twitter.com/givQYC6bsc
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) had quite the fitting response, though, as he criticized the use of the "soft bigotry of low expectations."
"Now, I'm sitting here right now and I gotta tell y'all, I'm black and I'm a veteran. I have six forms of government ID, six," Hunt emphasized. "The insinuation that black and brown people cannot get an ID to vote, like every other citizen, regardless of your race, religion, color, or creed, is insulting! I actually refer to this as a soft bigotry of low expectations!"
Hunt also made clear that "we, as all Americans, should want free and fair elections," and took issue with criticisms of the SAVE Act. "We aren't making it more difficult for people to get an ID to vote," as he reminded that people receive birth certificates when they're born. "So the idea of this costing thousands of dollars and this all of a sudden onerous and burdensome on Hispanic people and black people like me, is absurd," Hunt insisted.
In sharing that "every last one of" the members of his large family all have government IDs, Hunt declared, "It would be insulting to talk to my family and say to them, 'you know what, sorry, y'all, you know, we're black and it's just, you know, so hard for you to get an ID like all the white people.' That's absurd and we as a country have got to reject this farce!"
"The insinuation that black and brown people cannot get an ID to vote like every other citizen, regardless of your race, religion, color, or creed, is insulting. I actually refer to this as a soft bigotry of low expectations." -@RepWPH pic.twitter.com/QWEBisv7Z5
— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) September 11, 2024
Later on Tuesday, when speaking to CNN's Jake Taper, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) further made the case for the legislation, warning about how just a small amount of noncitizens voting could cause "serious chaos." He discussed the need for the SAVE Act as "a simple matter that should be done in a bipartisan manner, but the Democrats here don't want to do it," reminding how 198 House Democrats who voted against it "have no explanation as to why."
As Tapper offered that they perhaps think it's "already against the law" and "is creating an election issue," Johnson illustrated that issue by reminding that we check ID for alcohol purchases, not merely the box that has to be checked off when voting.
"We require ID for all sorts of transactions in society. Voting is a sacred thing. Why would we not require proof of citizenship? It doesn't matter that you have a statute that says it's illegal for noncitizens to vote," Johnson pointed out. "If you're not enforcing it, it has no import. And that's all were saying. This is common sense. The American people demand and deserve it and we're going to fight for it."
JAKE TAPPER: "They think that it's already against the law for...noncitizens to vote!"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 10, 2024
MIKE JOHNSON: "It is illegal for underage persons to buy alcohol...But we don't let them come to liquor store and check a box and say 'I'm over 21.' We ask for identification!" pic.twitter.com/Yiy8cvy57m
On Wednesday, as Leah covered, Johnson announced that a vote on the stopgap funding plan will take place next week, with the SAVE Act included. The push for such legislation is thus now even more relevant than ever, as Johnson tries to ensure he has the votes.
Also on Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was joined by several other Republicans to demand passage of the SAVE Act, which he has been championing.
Pass the SAVE Act. Fund America’s government. Secure America’s elections. https://t.co/MNPrfPHAey
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) September 11, 2024
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