The SAVE America Act could have curbed hundreds of documented instances of noncitizens registering to vote and dozens of instances of noncitizens voting in elections, based on recent state data and criminal cases.
A review of adjudicated election fraud cases suggests that a federal law requiring verified citizenship and photo ID—such as the SAVE America Act—could have at least offered election officials tools to prevent voter fraud before it escalated to a criminal case. Had a voter ID requirement been in effect, that might have also prevented numerous documented crimes of nonresidents voting in the wrong state or jurisdiction and impersonating voters.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which Republicans are still seeking to push through the Senate, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to vote.
“Our current system of citizenship verification of registration is broken, porous, and needs to be enhanced,” Don Palmer, a former chairman of the Election Assistance Commission and now a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Signal. “Strong identity checks and documentary proof of citizenship would have avoided these crimes.”
Opponents of the SAVE America Act insist noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. Senate Democratic leadership made this claim in a September 2025 letter, vowing to use all procedural hurdles to stop it.
“The SAVE Act purports to stop noncitizen voting, which is already exceedingly rare and a federal crime, with a new federal mandate that anyone registering to vote must provide specific documentary proof of citizenship,” the letter that includes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “In reality, if the SAVE Act were to become law, millions of Americans would face major obstacles to vote.”
“Numerous reviews have found extremely low rates of noncitizen voting,” the letter continued.
Noncitizen Voting and Registration
Michigan Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office announced in April 2025 that 15 noncitizens were confirmed to have voted in the 2024 election in Michigan. A release announcing the finding claimed that instances of noncitizens voting are “extremely rare.”
One of those cases was Haoxiang Gao, a 19-year-old Chinese national and University of Michigan student who was charged by state and federal law enforcement after he illegally registered to vote and then voted in the 2024 presidential election. Gao fled to China using a passport with a different number than the one he surrendered to the university.
An audit by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office found 277 noncitizens were registered to vote and 35 voted in the 2024 election.
Prior to the 2024 election, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, signed an executive order removing noncitizens from the voter rolls, resulting in the withdrawal of about 1,900 names.
Kansas, in 2026, prosecuted three noncitizens for voting. This included the mayor of a small town, who not only violated the law by voting but also by holding office. Jose Ceballos-Armendariz, the former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, is a Mexican national with a green card who was living legally in the United States. He pleaded guilty to voter fraud earlier this year.
In late 2024, Alabama removed 3,251 noncitizens from the voter registration lists. Also, in August 2024, Ohio removed 597 noncitizens from the voter rolls.
Since 2020, there have been at least 17 adjudicated cases of noncitizens illegally voting, according to the Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database. That’s a matter that might have been prevented ahead of time by a proof-of-citizenship requirement.
Double Voting, Impersonations and Other Election Crimes
The database shows that since 2020, another dozen people were found to have voted outside their state or jurisdiction of residence, based on criminal convictions, judicial findings, or a sentence to a diversion program.
There have been 17 convictions for impersonation fraud at the voter polls since 2020. A national voter ID law could have plausibly reduced the likelihood that people would try to show up at the polls posing as someone else.
Since 2020, there were 49 convictions or findings of individuals engaging in duplicate voting, according to the database, a matter that could also at least be reduced by voter ID. There were another 82 adjudicated cases of ineligible voting.
“The multiple convictions highlighted and others from the Heritage Voter Fraud Database are clear evidence that illegal registration and voting is a systemic problem and why states need to build and engage in new programs to detect and deter voter fraud,” Palmer said.
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
