NM Democratic Representatives Vote NO to Only U.S. Citizens Voting in U.S. Elections

ALBUQUERQUE, JULY 10—Today, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which requires states to obtain proof of U.S. citizenship when registering voters and purge non-citizens from voter rolls, was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, despite 198 Democrats voting against it. Among the opposing Democrats were all three New Mexico Representatives: Gabe Vasquez, Melanie Stansbury, and Teresa Leger Fernandez.

“The only reason New Mexico’s Democratic representatives would oppose states requiring proof of citizenship to vote is because they want illegal immigrants to vote in our elections,” said Republican Party of New Mexico Spokeswoman Ash Soular. “They stood by while Joe Biden let 10 million illegal immigrants into our country and now, they’re going to stand by while our national security, election integrity and democracy are threatened. Only American citizens should be allowed to vote in U.S. elections. The SAVE Act is a common-sense and crucial step to restoring confidence in our voting system.”

More details about the SAVE ACT:

• The threat to the integrity of U.S. elections is a result of poorly designed provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA also known as Motor-Voter), a federal law enacted in 1993.
• The NVRA does not require states to ask for proof of citizenship when registering an individual to vote in federal elections.
• Rather, the NVRA relies on individuals to merely attest they are a citizen and eligible to vote. In 44 states, if an individual completes and signs the universal NVRA form (Form), then the state is required by federal law to register that person to vote.
• The SAVE Act would secure elections in New Mexico, which only requires an individual to provide his or her social security number, despite many noncitizens having SSNs.

Additionally, it would:

• Require state election officials to inquire about citizenship status prior to providing a voter registration form to an applicant.
• Require state election officials to request documentary proof of citizenship from each individual at the time they register to vote using the NVRA Form.
• Prohibit states from registering an individual to vote in federal elections unless and until the individual provides documentary proof of citizenship.
• Allows state officials to accept a wide variety of documents that will make it easy for citizens to register to vote in federal elections while making it hard for noncitizens to register to vote.
• Require states to take steps to educate the public about the need to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Require states to take ongoing steps to review their election rolls and to remove noncitizens from the rolls so that they cannot vote in federal elections

Read Speaker Johnson’s full report on the SAVE ACT HERE.