On the debate stage Tuesday, former president Donald Trump reiterated the widely debunked claim that he won the 2020 election. Less than two months from election day, state officials in Ohio and Republican leaders in Congress appear to be laying the groundwork for future claims of fraud if Trump loses in November, an election watchdog is warning.
With a federal funding deadline looming, House Speaker Mike Johnson wanted to tie the SAVE Act to government funding legislation. The measure, which passed the House already this year, would require voters across the country to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote.
Although it’s already illegal to register or vote when you aren’t eligible, under current law a voter only has to attest to being a citizen. Requiring documentary proof of citizenship is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Go-to documents like a driver’s license or a Social Security card wouldn’t cut it. Even a birth certificate would be insufficient without a photo ID showing a matching name, which is a potential complication for those who changed their name after marriage.
A University of Maryland study estimates more than 21 million Americans don’t have ready access to the documents they’d need.
And the catch is even if Speaker Johnson could find the votes he did previously for the SAVE Act, and force the hand of the U.S. Senate where the measure was dead on arrival, its passage would have no impact on November’s election.
That led even a SAVE Act co-sponsor to revolt. On social media, Trump urged lawmakers to shut down the government unless they get “absolute assurances” of election security before voting on a funding measure. He then alleged, without evidence, that Democrats are attempting to register undocumented people.
David Becker, from the Center for Election Innovation and Research, made the point that it’s too late for the SAVE Act’s provisions to affect the upcoming election.
“I think there’s an important question to ask, and that question is, why now?” he said. “Why are you raising this now, even if we take what you say as truth, and in most cases, it isn’t, why didn’t you do something about this before?”
He noted Republicans have controlled the U.S. House since the beginning of 2023 (the SAVE Act vote was about two months ago) and Trump was in the White House for four years.
“This is about politics,” he added, “and more importantly, it’s about fueling perceived claims of an election being stolen in anticipation of what they may believe is going to be a defeat for their preferred candidate.”
Wednesday afternoon, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would delay the vote on a funding bill while he works to shore up support.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: [email protected]. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and X.