SAVE Act

At the heart of the debate lies the question of voter fraud, and are non-citizens actually voting in any large numbers? The president claims that fraud is rampant, but he offered no proof. Bipartisan groups claim it's rare, making the law unnecessary and potentially disenfranchising for a lot of voters. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, would require people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The president pushing for a Senate passage of the bill last night, it's already been approved in the House. It's very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote. The SAVE Act is a restriction on voting. It's requiring proof of citizenship, which has never been required before. Election attorney Michael Dorff also says the proposed federal voting requirements would pose a number of constitutional questions, with most election authority currently granted to states. If the state legislature says you don't have to show citizenship to vote for senator, how can Congress change it? And then you've still got the 14th Amendment, which says that no citizen shall be deprived of the equal protection of the law. Early voting is now well underway for the March primary. The chairwoman of the Illinois GOP says polls show widespread support for the law. It's a common sense piece of legislation. It would restore faith in our electoral process. And we need those voters to know that integrity and security of our elections is a top priority in our country. The SAVE Act, in particular, is a solution without a problem. Cathy Cortez with the League of Women Voters says suggestions of widespread voter fraud are just not supported by the facts, and that even if some small fraction of people have illegally voted, it has not changed any election outcomes. You ought to be able to vote in an American election if you're a citizen and you've been an active voter before. So I think we should focus on getting people out to the polls, getting the 40 to 50 percent of the people out to the polls who don't vote. The League of Women Voters says the law would potentially disenfranchise millions of Illinois voters. The Senate Republican leader would not commit to any time frame for a vote, but said it could require 60 votes for passage, and currently there are only 53 Republicans in the Senate. Experts say that if it were to get passed before November, it would probably be tied up in court and would never impact the election. Okay, so no changes any time soon? Not that we know of.