Donald Trump Urges Congress to Pass SAVE America Act

President Donald Trump urged the U.S. Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill designed to mandate photo identification at polling stations and require documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration. In a Truth Social post, Trump cited a conversation with India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, who questioned how the U.S. conducts elections without valid photo IDs. Trump noted that India's last election involved 646 million voters, nearly all of whom used photo identification and fewer than 1% of whom voted by mail.

The proposed legislation would require states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls and limit mail-in voting to specific circumstances, such as military service or illness. The White House described the measure as a common sense, bipartisan bill intended to ensure only American citizens decide elections. U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor endorsed the call for the bill's passage.

While the Republican-led House passed a revised version of the bill in February, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer stated the measure would be dead on arrival in the Senate, arguing it could disenfranchise low-income citizens. In India, the Ministry of External Affairs defended the global credibility of its election machinery, though Indian National Congress leader Pawan Khera sarcastically suggested Trump take the Chief Election Commissioner to America.