In May, Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, otherwise known as the SAVE Act. Yesterday afternoon, the bill passed in the house with 198 Democrats voting no.

This bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act and require states to obtain proof of citizenship for federal elections as well as remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

Leading up to the vote, House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson took to X to urge the passage of this bill and outlined the specifics of this legislation.

According to Johnson’s X thread, the SAVE Act will:

-Require state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms.

-Requires an individual to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

-Allow state officials to accept a wide variety of documents that will make it easy for citizens to register to vote in federal elections.

-Provides states with access to federal agency databases so they can remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

-Direct DHS to determine whether to conduct removal proceedings if a noncitizen has been identified as having registered to vote in a federal election.

This bill will also require DHS to notify a state chief election official whenever an individual has been, “naturalized to ensure citizens are able to exercise their right to vote.”

Elon Musk commented on Johnson’s X post saying that, “Those who oppose this are traitors. All caps: TRAITORS. What is the penalty for traitors again?”

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) cosponsored the SAVE Act and explained why this piece of legislation is so crucial.

“A combination of ballot harvesting, and the National Voter Registration Act makes it a virtual certainty that there will be efforts to (cheat).” Said Lee on Fox News.

“This doesn’t mean that the illegal aliens themselves will cast their votes. It means that they will be used to register to vote in federal elections, they’ll harvest the ballots, and Democratic Operatives will fill those out.”

Democrat Leadership urged its House Members to vote against the bill, saying it would place an extreme burden on countless Americans to vote. 

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass) orchestrated a coordinated campaign to ensure Democrats are in-line, issuing a memo outlining guidance for how House Democrats should vote. 

“Democrats are urged to VOTE NO on H.R. 8281,” the memo states.

President Biden has already come out against the SAVE Act, saying that if it reaches his desk, he will veto.