Yesterday, Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil, Chairman of the House Administration Committee, unveiled a comprehensive package of election reforms. His bill, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, promotes integrity and improves the administration of elections for federal office, putting new baseline standards in place for national elections that include:
Mandatory photo identification to vote in federal elections.
Proof of citizenship verification when registering to vote (including for mail registrations).
Stronger requirements for states to maintain clean voter rolls (e.g., routine removal of ineligible voters, such as non-citizens or deceased individuals).
Auditable paper ballots for all federal elections.
Bans on “universal” vote-by-mail
Mail-in/absentee ballot restrictions: Ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day (with exceptions for military/overseas voters).
Banning ballot harvesting (third-party collection of ballots).
Banning ranked-choice voting in federal elections.
Other measures include: Preservation of election records; information sharing with the Attorney General on potential fraud; barcode tracking for mail ballots; and limits on political activities within federal agencies.
“Americans should be confident their elections are being run with integrity - including commonsense voter ID requirements, clean voter rolls, and citizenship verification,” said Steil. “These reforms will improve voter confidence, bolster election integrity, and make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat.”
Congressional Rep. Mary Miller (R-Illinois) said, “This is the most comprehensive election integrity package in modern history. I’m proud to be an original cosponsor standing up for secure elections that protect the voice of every American citizen!”
Also yesterday, Texas Congressman Chip Roy and Utah Senator Mike Lee introduced the SAVE America Act - a new and improved version of their widely supported SAVE Act. The SAVE America Act adds a voter ID requirement for voting in federal elections while maintaining the original bill’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration.
The SAVE America Act amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in elections for federal office and would protect and preserve the right of American citizens to vote by:
Requiring individuals to present an eligible photo identification document before voting (NEW).
Requiring states to obtain proof of citizenship—in person—when registering an individual to vote (from original SAVE Act).
Requiring states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls (from original SAVE Act).
It has gained cosponsors, including Sens. Chuck Grassley and Roger Wicker, bringing support to around 49 senators (with indications of more).
“The SAVE America Act makes our original SAVE Act better. President Trump rightly believes we should include Voter ID in this bill as we make a renewed push to secure our elections and protect the rights of American voters,” said Rep. Roy and Sen. Lee. “By requiring Voter ID and proof-of-citizenship, the SAVE America Act will ensure that our federal elections are decided by U.S. citizens—and U.S. citizens alone.”
As Democrat-controlled states quickly descend into an out-of-control death spiral, it is gratifying to see Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress and Senate step up to address the need for good, solid, common-sense election legislation reforms, enhancing integrity, voter confidence, and security.
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