Only One Democrat Votes for Election Integrity Bill

The House of Representatives passed a revamped version of a Trump-backed election integrity bill on Wednesday evening with little help from Democrats.

Lawmakers voted 216-213 to approve the SAVE America Act with just one Democratic lawmaker joining Republicans in support of the measure. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, enacts a voter ID requirement at the ballot box long sought by Republicans and prohibits mail-only voter registrations. 

Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar was the line Democrat to buck House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and support the election integrity bill.

Democrats argued the legislation’s requirements would erect barriers impeding millions of eligible voters, including married women who have changed their last names or Americans that do not have their birth certificates. Republicans countered that most states already have voter identification requirements and turnout has not been affected.

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives has passed versions of the SAVE Act over recent years, though the legislation has stalled in the Senate due to opposition from Democrats.

“House Republicans been working hard for years now to ensure the integrity of American elections, because it is essential to maintain a constitutional republic,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday on Fox Business.

Republicans have also pointed to recent polling showing that voter ID requirements are widely popular with Americans, including the vast majority of Democrats. A Pew Research survey from August found that 71% of Democrats support “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote.” Among Republicans, 95% of respondents want voter ID requirements.

“If you need an ID to board a plane, open a bank account, or even to buy certain types of cold medicine, you should need an ID to vote in federal elections,” Republican Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr told the Daily Caller News Foundation following the vote. “Anyone who opposes voter ID to safeguard the integrity of our elections is anti-American.”

Four Democrats — Cuellar, Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Ed Case of Hawaii — voted for an earlier version of the legislation in April 2025.

President Donald Trump endorsed the SAVE America Act on Sunday, though the legislation likely is not far-reaching enough to satisfy his demand to end mail-in-voting.

“NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPT FOR ILLNESS, DISABILITY, MILITARY, OR TRAVEL!)” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The president has also urged every GOP lawmaker to “fight” to advance the election integrity measure to his desk for signature. The SAVE America Act, however, faces an uphill battle in the Senate due to overwhelming opposition from Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has repeatedly argued that voter ID requirements are akin to racist “Jim Crow type laws” that would disenfranchise black and Hispanic Americans. Republicans have in turn torched the lead Democrat for suggesting that minority voters or women would struggle to prove their citizenship.

The SAVE America Act was also dealt a blow Tuesday when moderate Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she would vote against the measure.