The President specifically cited India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s observations, while pointing out that 646 million people participated in the recent general elections in India, and yet less than 1% voted through postal ballots. US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called for the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE America Act to ‘protect’ elections, recently praised the Indian election system .
“India’s last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! In a Truth Social post, Mr. Less than one per cent voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document.
Trump said that Mr. “We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now,” he asserted.
Kumar had spoken with officials from his administration earlier this month and asked how U.S. elections can be held without a valid photo identification card.
In order to become a law, the SAVE Act needs to pass through the House of Representatives and the Senate before going to the President. Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for the passage of the SAVE Act to ‘protect’ elections in US. He has also pushed for US Senate to permanently remove the filibustering. Senior Democrats have voiced strong opposition to this. However, an article in White House’s website suggests India ties voter I.D. to a biometric database, which is not true. India mandates Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) or voter ID card to eliminate proxy or fraudulent voting. India allows postal ballots for disabled, elderly and government staff engaged in election duty. The country does periodical revision of electoral rolls and the State election commissions carry special drives to enroll new voters. The Election Commission of India also accepts voters registration online, however, voting cannot be done online.
The SAVE Act requires “A valid ID before registering to vote in a federal election, proof of citizenship, and no mail-in ballots (except for Illness, Disability, military, or Travel), according to the White House website .
Democratic lawmakers and voting rights organisations have pointed out that non-citizen voting is exceedingly rare in US and is already illegal under federal law. Concerns have also been raised that tying physical IDs to voting may adversely impact the electoral rights of married women whose names have changed, rural residents, students, and low-income voters who may lack access to documents like a passport or birth certificate.
Earlier reporting noted: Trump cites India’s voter cards to make case for SAVE America Act Making a strong case for stricter electoral laws in the U.S., President Donald Trump praised the Indian election system and recalled Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar questioning lack of voter identification in American polls. Earlier reporting noted: The U.S. president made these remarks to drum up support for the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, impose a nationwide voter identification requirement and severely limit voting by mail.
