(Texas Scorecard) – President Joe Biden released a statement strongly opposing a measure that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
H.R. 8281, introduced by Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21), would require state election officials to inquire about proof of citizenship prior to administering voter registration forms. An individual would then have to show proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote in federal elections.
The measure, also known as the “Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act,” empowers state officials to accept a wide variety of documents with the aim of making it easier for citizens to register to vote.
However, the Biden administration is poised to strike down the legislation if passed by Congress.
“The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 8281, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act,” Monday’s statement reads.
“This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls,” it continues. “The evidence is clear that the current laws to prevent noncitizen voting are working as intended—it is extraordinarily rare for noncitizens to break the law by voting in Federal elections.”
Additionally, the statement claimed that if the GOP actually cared about securing the border and improving the immigration system, House Republicans would have voted on the notorious “border deal” that he had previously negotiated with a group of Senators.
Republican leaders subsequently blasted the Biden administration for opposing the new measure.
“There is no hiding it now. Biden and the Democrats want illegal immigrants to vote in the election this November,” Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X. “Our elections are NOT safe from mass interference as long as states do not require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.”
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson also took to social media to express outrage.
“It should alarm every American citizen that the sitting President of the United States, who has opened our border to over 9 million illegals, just announced that he would veto our bill to prevent noncitizens from voting,” he posted.
Roy, who introduced the SAVE Act in early May of this year, questioned what the Democrats believe constitutes a citizen of the United States—claiming that major issues such as open borders, fiscal ruin, giving welfare to illegal aliens as opposed to U.S. seniors and veterans, and “puppet candidates” are purposefully being used to cripple the Republic.