In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Donald Trump demanded that Congress pass the most restrictive anti-voting bill in U.S. history, the SAVE America Act. But he also exaggerated the bill’s provisions, saying it would impose even more severe restrictions on voting than it actually would.
The comments reflect restrictions the president would like to impose, but that would be so onerous as to imperil his own party.
During his speech, Trump said the bill would require showing proof of citizenship to vote — a restriction that is not in the current version of the act. He also once again attacked mail ballots, even though the bill does not currently include any restrictions on voting by mail.
“No more crooked mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel,” he said. “None.”
In fact, despite pressure from the White House, a ban on no-excuse mail voting was reportedly intentionally left out of the SAVE America Act for fear of jeopardizing GOP support for the measure.
Even so, if the SAVE America Act were to become law, it would likely disenfranchise millions of eligible voters by requiring them to show documentary proof of citizenship at registration — not when voting — and to provide photo ID when they cast ballots.
It would affect voters of all ages and races, though women who took their spouse’s last name when they got married, younger voters and voters of color would disproportionately risk disenfranchisement under its requirements.
In arguing for the bill, Trump once again advanced widely debunked claims of widespread voter fraud and framed passage of the act in existential terms for the U.S., calling it “country-saving legislation.”
Trump also made it clear that the SAVE America Act is fundamental to the rest of his agenda, telling lawmakers action on the legislation must come “before anything else happens.”
To bolster support for this voter suppression bill, Trump has revived long-running, far-right claims that noncitizens are voting in elections in significant numbers — claims that have been repeatedly debunked.
“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act to stop illegal aliens and other unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections,” Trump said during the State of the Union. “The cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s very simple: All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote.”
There is no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in U.S. elections. Federal law already forbids it, and punishments for illegally voting are severe.
Trump’s speech drew swift backlash from voting rights advocates who said he was using false claims about election integrity to justify sweeping restrictions that would disenfranchise voters.
“President Trump is once again urging Congress to pass the dangerous SAVE Act,” the pro-voting group Campaign Legal Center said in a statement. “Let us be clear: This is blatantly anti-voter legislation that will block millions of Americans from casting a ballot, undermining our union and our democracy.”
State officials echoed that view.
“Trump’s defense of the SAVE Act has NOTHING to do with ‘election integrity’,” Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski (D) posted on social media. “Republicans are attempting to disenfranchise as many voters as possible ahead of the midterms they know they’re going to LOSE.”
House Democrats, meanwhile, framed the proposal as nothing more than a power grab that would come at the expense of voters. “The SAVE America Act is a federal takeover of state and local election,” the Democrats wrote on social media. “Trump and Republicans want to suppress the vote. They’re trying to RIG elections, but we won’t let them.”
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the SAVE America Act. Though it currently has 50 Republican cosponsors in the Senate, the bill still faces long odds of overcoming the 60-vote threshold to end a Democratic filibuster.
Despite publicly supporting the bill, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has made it clear he opposes eliminating the filibuster or amending how it works in order to ensure the bill’s passage.
Responding to the House’s passage of the bill, Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, called the SAVE America Act “the most restrictive voting bill ever passed by Congress.”
“Make no mistake: The SAVE Act would stop millions of American citizens from voting,” Waldman wrote. “It is Trump’s power grab in legislative garb.”
Though he has pressured Thune to scrap the current filibuster to pass the bill, the president has also claimed that he doesn’t have to rely on Congress in carrying out his suppressive voting measures.
In a social media post earlier this month, Trump claimed that, regardless of what the Senate does, he will unilaterally implement many of the voting restrictions in the SAVE America Act through an executive order.
Such an order would almost certainly face legal challenges from pro-voting organizations, and courts would also likely declare it unconstitutional, as the Constitution does not allow the president to unilaterally change federal election procedures.
