President Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which is legislation aimed at preventing non-U.S. citizens from voting.
“Republicans must pass the Save Act, or go home and cry yourself to sleep. Non citizen Illegal Migrants are getting the right to vote, being pushed by crooked Democrat Politicians who are not being stopped by an equally dishonest Justice Department,” Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social.
“Our whole voting system is under siege,” he continued. “The Dems can’t win on their policies, the only way they can win is to CHEAT. They do it at every level of government, and they do it well.”
“All I can say is that if I’m elected President, we will pursue Election Fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time. We already know who you are. DON’T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!” Trump wrote.
Republicans must pass the Save Act, or go home and cry yourself to sleep. Non citizen Illegal Migrants are getting the right to vote, being pushed by crooked Democrat Politicians who are not being stopped by an equally dishonest Justice Department. Our whole voting system is…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 9, 2024
The SAVE Act is intended to “thwart Democrat efforts to cement one-party rule by upholding and strengthening current law that permits only U.S. citizens to vote in Federal elections,” according to a May news release from Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who introduced the legislation, with 49 other co-sponsors.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah introduced sister legislation in the Senate.
“Secure elections are a key cornerstone for any representative government; without them, we won’t have a country. Radical progressive Democrats know this and are using open border policies while also attacking election integrity laws to fundamentally remake America,” Roy said at time.
Does this country need election reform?
The changes the bill calls for are requiring “states to obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and identity — in person — when registering an individual to vote in a Federal election,” according to a one-page summary prepared by Roy’s office.
The legislation also, “Requires states to establish a program to remove non-citizens from their existing voter rolls and gives states no-cost access to Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration databases to do so.”
Further it, “Empowers citizens to bring civil suits against election officials that fail to uphold proof of citizenship requirements for Federal elections by expanding the [National Voter Registration Act’s] existing private right of action, and adds penalties for election officials that register non-citizens to vote in Federal elections.”
President Joe Biden and House Democratic leadership oppose the law.
The White House said in a statement, “It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal Elections — it is a federal crime punishable by prison and fines.”
Additionally, “States already have effective safeguards in place to verify voter’s eligibility and maintain the accuracy of voter rolls.”
The administration argued that the bill would “make it much harder for eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday, “Many of the Democrats want all of these illegals to participate in our federal elections. They want them to vote. There’s no other conclusion that you can draw.”
“It’s a serious problem, and we cannot allow a federal election to be jeopardized by people who can run into the local welfare office, sign up for taxpayer benefits and check a box that says, ‘I’m a citizen and I want to vote.’ This is common sense legislation.”
Democrats have tried to mislead the American people about our efforts to prevent noncitizens from voting.
Why? Because they want illegals to vote in our elections.
We must protect American elections by passing @chiproytx‘s SAVE Act. pic.twitter.com/aKiI6Ldi6Q
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 9, 2024
A document put together by the speaker’s office shows a screenshot from instructions on the Arizona Secretary of State website saying, “A person is not required to submit proof of citizenship with the voter registration form, but failure to do so means the person will only be eligible to vote in federal elections.”
Trump’s reference to “Zuckerbucks” had to do with the more than $400 million Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan donated during the 2020 election, primarily through the nonprofit The Center for Tech and Civic Life in the form of administration grants to election officials around the country.
A 2022 paper by The Foundation for Government Accountability concluded that “Zuckerbucks” “were disproportionally siphoned to left-leaning counties to boost Democrat turnout and influence the outcome of 2020 elections.”
“Acceptance of private funding put pressure on grant recipients to allow CTCL-affiliated operatives to assist in election administration, including assisting with curing absentee ballots,” the FGA said.
For example, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that $10.6 million went to Wisconsin with the bulk of it, $8.8 million, going to the state’s five largest cities, which happen to be Democratic strongholds: Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, Racine and Kenosha.
Green Bay received a reported $1.2 million grant from CTCL, and Democratic operative Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein was named the “grant mentor” for the city.
Then-Green Bay city clerk Kris Teske went on leave two weeks before the general election out of frustration with how Spitzer-Rubenstein was usurping her authority, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In April, Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment banning private money from being used in their election offices.
According to the Capital Research Center, 28 states in all have voted to ban Zuckerbucks since the 2020 election.
