Early voting starts on September 20th in Virginia, and because there is some discussion in the press about the SAVE Act, I want to detail my involvement with the bill.
The SAVE Act prohibits non-citizens from voting by requiring states to obtain proof-of-citizenship when registering individuals to vote in federal elections.
Earlier this year I was one of six Members of the House who voted to send the SAVE Act to the full House for consideration.
During the summer, I supported the SAVE Act when it came to the House floor. The legislation passed with bipartisan support, though most Democrats voted against it.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate has yet to consider the legislation.
Non-citizen voting is complicated by federal government efforts to have federal agencies register voters and become political get-out-the-vote organizations, done on the order of someone who, at the time, was a candidate for president.
The Biden-Harris Administration directed executive agencies via Executive Order 14019 to work with local partners to register voters and turn out votes.
While the administration will tell you they are just protecting the vote, the involvement of numerous federal agencies is unprecedented.
Further, if their efforts are innocent, why haven’t they responded to House Republicans’ requests for the details of their strategic get-out-the-vote plans?
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner testified before a House Administration Committee hearing to discuss his efforts to protect West Virginia elections. His state has removed 400,000 names from their voter rolls and implemented voter ID requirements.
Because of the federal Motor Voter law, every person applying for a driver’s license with their state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) receives a voter registration application. The various states’ DMVs don’t check citizenship status before giving out the voter registration application.
Because they receive a registration form from a government agency, many non-citizens don’t know they are not supposed to vote and apparently some of them register to vote.
The same thing is likely to happen with federal agencies registering people with whom they come in contact.
I believe that is why the federal government has never done this before.
As far as I know, the agencies are not checking to see if a person they are dealing with is a citizen who is eligible to vote in federal elections before giving them voter registration forms.
From the non-citizen’s view, the government encouraged them to register. Therefore, it must be legal to vote!
That is why we need the SAVE Act.
The SAVE Act makes clear that non-citizens have no business voting in American elections.
Shouldn’t U.S. states be required to use their authority to obtain proof-of-citizenship when registering people to vote in federal elections?
When non-citizens have the opportunity to register to vote, some will vote, diluting the voting power of actual American citizens.
Last year, in order to address non-citizen voting, I introduced the NO VOTE for Non-Citizens Act. If a locality wants non-citizens to vote in their local election, the bill would require separate voter rolls for local and federal elections.
This push to address non-citizen voting comes as a result of looking at weaknesses in American election administration and recent state actions cleaning voter rolls.
In August, Governor Youngkin made a critical step by issuing Executive Order 35. The order codified security procedures put into place during the Youngkin Administration, which included stringent ballot security, complete and thorough counting machine testing, and best-in-the-nation voter list maintenance.
Following the Executive Order, the Youngkin Administration removed over 6,300 non-citizens from Virginia’s voter rolls.
The integrity of our elections is also threatened by potential cheating via political entities.
The House Administration Committee, on which I serve, is investigating ActBlue, a website that raises campaign funds for Democratic candidates.
ActBlue collects campaign contributions from donors and then sends funds to various Democratic candidates and causes.
According to whistleblower allegations, ActBlue is potentially skirting campaign donation laws.
ActBlue allows donations through Paypal, Venmo, Google Pay, prepaid credit cards and gift cards. These contribution methods do not check or use card verification value, or CVV.
This failure makes manipulation and fraud by malicious actors easier.
In August, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to ActBlue requesting more information on the platform’s verification processes and procedures when assessing the legitimacy and accuracy of donor and contribution information.
As of the date of this writing, the AG’s investigation into ActBlue is ongoing.
Our elections must be secure in order to ensure fair outcomes and restore confidence in U.S. elections. That is why I continue to support the SAVE Act.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
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