This week, the U.S. House passed a bill that would require voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship to vote.
Led by Republican Chip Roy of Austin, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act – known as the SAVE Act – would mandate that voters present certain documentation to vote, including ID cards consistent with REAL ID requirements.
The bill passed 220-208, with four Democrats joining all voting Republicans in favor of the bill.
“So we’re talking about passports or, you know, government-issued ID cards,” said Jasper Scherer, politics reporter for the Texas Tribune. “And Chip Roy says that this is essentially needed. He thinks there are too many noncitizens voting in elections. And you know, the reality is that there is not a ton of evidence to that effect.”
Republicans in favor of the bill say that ineligible voters have been found on voter rolls. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott said the state removed 6,500 noncitizens from voter rolls – but that included some U.S. citizens who were incorrectly identified as noncitizens.
Opponents of the bill say it’s unneeded, and that it creates more barriers to voting.
“I think from the Democratic perspective, what we’ve heard from them is they think it places these unnecessary hurdles, potentially, on voting – places an extra thing that low-income voters have to do to participate,” Scherer said. “But, of course, the Republican side of this is that it’s better safe than sorry, so to speak.”
Hear more stories from the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
