Minnesota’s ‘Vouching’ Disaster Proves America Needs SAVE Act

Minnesota’s election system stands as one of the worst in the nation, and its “vouching” policy is a prime example of why confidence in election security remains fragile.

A new Fox News investigation reveals just how risky the vouching system is. Under the state’s rules, one registered voter can “vouch” for up to eight others, meaning these unverified individuals can walk into a polling place on Election Day, register, and vote without ever proving identity, citizenship, or residency.

That policy creates an open door for confusion, mistakes, and fraud. Scandalously, state officials have done nothing to fix it. After all, they see it as a feature rather than a bug. Instead, Minnesota continues to double down on weak voting laws, eroding public trust in the integrity of the vote.

Vouching is bad enough, but Minnesota has done everything possible to make citizenship verification harder. Minnesota recently started giving driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. These licenses are visually identical to those issued to citizens. And they can be used to register to vote on election day. Thanks to Tim Walz, a noncitizen who wants to vote doesn’t even need someone to vouch for them!

The combination of vouching and lookalike IDs creates a system built for confusion and abuse. It removes any reliable way to confirm who is eligible to vote and reduces verification to mere guesswork. Under these rules, election officials are asked to take people at their word and hope for the best instead of enforcing clear standards. That is not election security.

Defenders claim voter fraud is rare. But as the Heritage Foundation’s election fraud database shows, it happens. And, to no one’s surprise given the state’s other fraud problems, Minnesota tops the list for the most proven cases of election fraud in the country. Fraud doesn’t need to be widespread to be serious; it only takes a handful of illegal ballots to decide a local race, and every illegitimate vote cancels out a legitimate one.

When states refuse to do the basics, they cast doubt on the whole system. Free and fair elections only work if citizens have confidence that the process is secure, transparent, and fair. Every time states adopt policies that make cheating easier or catching it harder, they weaken public confidence and strengthen cynicism. Trust, once broken, is hard to regain.

That is why it is time for Congress to pass the SAVE Act. Introduced by Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act provides a commonsense nationwide requirement that voters must show proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. This should not be a partisan measure. It is a basic safeguard that ensures only citizens decide who governs the United States.

Noncitizen voting is already against federal law, but the provision lacks teeth. The SAVE Act creates consistent national standards for the most basic election safeguard: proving potential voters are citizens. It is remarkable, but telling, that Democratic lawmakers almost universally oppose this.

It also holds election officials accountable for keeping voter rolls accurate and prevents states from relying on unverifiable claims of eligibility to expand their registrant lists.

Last year, House Republicans passed the bill, but Senate Democrats seem determined to kill it. Better to let a thousand illegal aliens vote, it seems, than stop even one fraudster.

One cannot overstate how out of touch their opposition is. Survey after survey shows that Americans overwhelmingly favor proof of citizenship requirements. According to an Honest Elections Project survey, only 9% of Americans think noncitizens should cast ballots. Gallup reports 83% think all voters should prove citizenship before voting.

Most Democrats insist they don’t want noncitizen voting, either, and hope — like Minnesota’s voucher system — you just take them at their word. Action is what counts, though, and it is what the American people deserve. Our nation should not have to go through another election without meaningful protections against noncitizen voting.

Minnesota’s example is a warning: the integrity of our elections must never be taken for granted. By passing the SAVE Act, Congress can reaffirm the basic principle that our elections belong to American citizens. If Senate Democrats won’t let that happen, Americans will know exactly who to blame.

Jason Snead is Executive Director of Honest Elections Project.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.