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Alabama U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville further expressed the importance of passing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act at a news conference with four other Republican senators on Wednesday.
The SAVE Act, mainly supported by Republicans, would require proof of citizenship to vote. Essentially, the SAVE Act would require new voters to submit documentary proof of United States citizenship such as a passport or a birth certificate.
Supporters of the bill have advertised it as a way to ensure that undocumented immigrants cannot vote in elections, despite this already being illegal.
Tuberville urged the Senate to bring the bill to the floor for a vote and pass it to ultimately prove that the elections are fair, otherwise, there would be “hell to pay.”
“It’s coming, and I’m not so sure that’s not what the Democrats want. It’s an embarrassing situation, for me as a taxpaying American citizen for the last 35, 40 years, it’s embarrassing to know we have less control over our election system than we have on anything else,” Tuberville said. “That’s all American taxpayers and citizens want in this country. They want to know that their vote counts.”
The SAVE Act would take effect immediately if enacted by Congress, and it imposes new administrative complications for state and local election offices.
It also requires that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission offers implementation guidance to states within just 10 days of enactment. If the law did take effect in the two months before a presidential election, it could potentially throw it into chaos.
The SAVE Act mandates substantial modifications to multiple aspects of the voter registration process, including how voters register, how their identities are verified and how ongoing list maintenance is conducted. Implementing these changes would involve more costs and time than are allotted as the election approaches, potentially taking months or even years to complete.
“If we continue down this path, it’s gonna be the same old thing. The American people deserve better than this. People that pay our bills and our salaries up here deserve better than this,” Tuberville said.
