Trump Administration Pushes SAVE Act Amid ICE Deployment Proposals

President Donald Trump is aggressively promoting the SAVE Act, a legislative proposal that would require voters to present a passport or birth certificate in person to register, effectively ending mail-in and online registration. Trump claims the measure would guarantee the midterms for Republicans and has stated he would do anything necessary to ensure honest elections.

Parallel to this legislative push, the United States Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to provide unredacted voter rolls to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has threatened state election officials with imprisonment if they do not comply with demands to scrub noncitizens from those rolls.

In Maine, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bobby Charles announced plans to petition border czar Tom Homan to deploy ICE agents and federal marshals to polling places this fall. Charles suggested federal presence would deter noncitizens who are allegedly paid to vote. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows condemned the proposal as illegal, citing federal law that prohibits armed federal agents at polls. Bellows noted that no evidence has been presented to her regarding noncitizens voting illegally in Maine.

These developments coincide with calls from advisor Steve Bannon to have ICE agents surround polling stations to intimidate voters. While the Trump administration has not officially planned such a deployment, Trump has not ruled out the strategy.