Key Points
• Rep. Claudia Tenney argues the SAVE Act is needed to stop noncitizens from voting.
• The Wall Street Journal says noncitizen voting is extremely rare.
• The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship that many voters may not readily have.
• Life events such as name changes, adoption, and lost records could make compliance difficult for millions of Americans.
• Rep. Tenney warns of hordes of illegal voters. Critics — including the Wall Street Journal — warn of hordes of paperwork.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY24) warns that election integrity is threatened by “allowing non-citizens to vote,” arguing that such cases “undermine… the right of each individual to have their vote cast.” She describes the SAVE Act as a way to ensure “only United States citizens vote” and considers non-citizen voting a major threat to our elections. (Tenney also opposes ranked-choice voting, but that’s another story.)
But the conservative, Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal claims otherwise. In the Wall Street Journal editorial titled, “Why the SAVE America Act… Won’t,” it criticizes the idea that large numbers of undocumented immigrants are voting in our elections.
“Although Mr. Trump insists that voter fraud is endemic, his big claims aren’t backed by hard evidence. The President recently said illegal aliens are voting in such huge numbers that he won Minnesota three times… Audits in a variety of places—Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Utah, Idaho—have found noncitizen voting and registration to be rare.”
And it doesn’t make sense that millions of noncitizens are voting. Again, from the Wall Street Journal,
“Illegal immigrants who want to stay are trying to avoid being noticed by the authorities. Green card holders have much to lose if they commit a crime…”
The push for the SAVE Act isn’t about hordes of noncitizens voting in our elections but about making it harder for Americans to vote so that, as former Secretary Kristi Noem said, “We’ve got to make sure that only the right people are voting.”
Easy, Peasy
Rep. Tenney presents the requirements of the SAVE Act as simple: show proof of citizenship, register, vote. She wrote on Facebook, “Schumer is calling the SAVE Act ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ because he thinks women and minorities can’t figure out how to provide proper identification.”
People can “figure out” how to provide proper identification, but having a passport, birth certificate, naturalization document—and, for some married women, a marriage license or divorce decree—to register to vote is another matter.
Vice President JD Vance
Take the case of poor Vice President JD Vance, for example. The man has lived under more names than most folks change their socks, thanks to a chaotic Appalachian childhood.
Born James Donald Bowman on August 2, 1984, in Middletown, Ohio—named after his biological father. His parents split early. When his mother remarried Bob Hamel, who adopted him around age six, the boy’s name was legally changed to James David Hamel. (She swapped out “Donald” for “David”—any “D” name would do, as Vance later wrote in Hillbilly Elegy, just to erase the old one.)
That became the only birth certificate on file with Ohio vital records. He lived as James David “J.D.” Hamel for over twenty years—through high school, his Marine Corps service (as Cpl. James D. Hamel), Ohio State, and Yale Law School.
Then, in April 2013, just before graduating Yale and starting his professional life, JD legally changed his surname to Vance, honoring his beloved maternal grandmother “Mamaw” (Bonnie Blanton Vance), who raised him through the family turmoil. His full legal name became James David Vance. Today he’s known simply as JD Vance.
Three major name shifts. Military records, diplomas, court documents, and early life papers under “Hamel” or earlier variations. A birth certificate that doesn’t match his current legal name. It’s the messy reality for countless Americans—women who take (or revert from) a husband’s name after marriage or divorce, kids from blended or adoptive families, people who move across states, or anyone updating after a life change.
Now Apply the SAVE Act
Now imagine forcing all that under the SAVE Act. This bill doesn’t let you just attest you’re a citizen under penalty of perjury as we’ve done for decades. No, it requires documentary proof of U.S. citizenship upfront for federal voter registration or any updates: a passport, a certified birth certificate that meets strict federal standards, naturalization papers, or a limited list of other documents. Driver’s licenses and most state IDs? Not sufficient on their own, since they don’t prove citizenship.
For someone like JD Vance—or the millions of married women (estimates reach as high as 69 million) whose current name isn’t listed on their birth certificate—the birth certificate alone isn’t enough. You’d need to find and submit additional linking documents: adoption decrees, court-ordered name changes, marriage licenses, or other records connecting the old name to the new one.
And good luck if any of those are lost, stored in another state, or buried in family papers from decades ago. States are supposed to set up “a process” for discrepancies, maybe accepting an affidavit or extra evidence—but that still means time off work, fees for copies, trips to courthouses, and hoping a local election official accepts your pile of documents.
Even conservative organizations tracking documented cases of voter fraud have found such incidents to be rare.
The Wall Street Journal—hardly a liberal outlet—concludes that:
- Claims of widespread fraud are not backed by evidence
- Verified cases of noncitizen voting are rare
- The proposed requirements could burden eligible voters
Rep. Tenney warns of hordes of illegal voters. The Wall Street Journal sees something else. Not hordes of illegal voters. Hordes of paperwork. Easy, peasy.
