Will Congress Ensure Only Citizens Vote?

By May 7, all U.S. citizens are supposed to have their federally required “Real ID” so that they can travel by air or enter a federal building. But what about using them to register to vote to ensure they are legally present in the country and eligible to vote in our elections?

The SAVE Act, introduced by Republican Texas Rep. (and University of Virginia alumnus) Chip Roy, recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now is awaiting action in the Senate. The SAVE Act, among other things, would require proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections and strengthen verification processes to ensure voter rolls only contained eligible citizen voters.

The Daily Signal sat down with former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, former Virginia Attorney General, and current National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative Ken Cuccinelli to talk about the bill’s likelihood of making it to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Our interview covered other topics as well, including the Left’s attempt to make out “Maryland Man” and MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be a victim of overzealous Trump administration deportations. Listen to the full interview or read an abridged transcript below.

The Daily Signal: Ken, only four Democrats voted for this in the House. Why is an issue that polls so positively among both parties (one Gallup Poll had the support at 84%) so hard to get bipartisan support for?

Ken Cuccinelli: This is the elected Democrats, and we see this in the commonwealth of Virginia. We see it in the Congress. They listen to and do the bidding of their radical Left base, even after the last election.

Excuses like married women won’t be able to vote. Oh, come on, my wife changed her name to my name. Most married women do that, sure, and they change their documents. And you know, they’re all smart enough to do it. And they all have what they need to do it, if that. And I picked that [issue] because it’s the No. 1 argument they’re making substantively now. They rarely get to substance. It’s usually, “You’re a racist. You’re doing voter suppression. [They say] there’s no need for this. Prove that we need it.”

The Daily Signal: They know that you can’t prove a negative. Prove that something didn’t happen.

Cuccinelli: It’s a theoretical impossibility. I will say that we can prove positives, like people did vote who shouldn’t have. You look at the [Department of Government Efficiency’s] uncovering of so many Social Security numbers used by illegal aliens in, for example, the Medicaid program. They took the trouble to check some of those against the voter rolls of just a few states and found thousands of people registered to vote and voting. So, you can’t say it isn’t happening, right? It is happening.”

The Daily Signal: So, what needs to happen to get it passed in the Senate?

Cuccinelli: The real hang-up is, will you get seven senators from the Democrat side to vote to overcome the filibuster to get it passed? And I have to say, I was really disappointed to only see four Democrats vote for this in the House. I was surprised five Democrats voted for it in September. I thought at least some of them would learn their lesson from the 2024 election. I was wrong.

Nonetheless, when you’ve got people like [Democrat Sen.] Jon Ossoff in Georgia, who’s up [for reelection] in 2026, we absolutely intend to be lobbying people in Georgia to get him to vote right.

[Democrat Sen.] Mark Kelly and Sen. [Ruben] Gallego in Arizona, they’re in a tough spot on this issue.

[Sen.] John Fetterman [D-Pa.] has occasionally voted in the Trump direction. And Pennsylvania is really more of a Rust Belt state. And John Fetterman knows that, at least. So, there are a few potential pickups out there, but they are getting so much pressure from their radical left-wing base, and they normally respond to it. They normally give in to it, which then means we’re going to need Republican leadership in the Senate.

Thankfully, now that’s John Thune [R-S.D.] and not Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] looking for must-pass legislation to attach the SAVE Act to—for example, you know, a defense authorization bill, something that everybody hates to vote against—and to put it in there and to pass it with that. That’s the way this has happened in the past, right? And that’s probably what it’s going to take this time.”

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