Mississippi’s Republican-controlled Legislature has agreed on a proposal to require local election officials to verify voters’ citizenship using a federal immigration database and audit voter rolls for potential noncitizens
Supporters say the measure will boost confidence in election results. Critics say it will suppress some U.S. citizens’ votes.
The agreement came on Monday when the Senate voted 33-18 along party lines to concur with the House on the Safeguard Honest Integrity in Elections for Lasting Democracy, or SHIELD, Act. The bill, which will now head to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves for his consideration, would require county registrars to conduct extra checks on people registering to vote.
The legislation drew vocal opposition from Democrats, who said it would make voting more time consuming and could even function as a “poll tax” because people might end up having to pay for extra documents, such as birth certificates, to prove their citizenship.
There is no evidence that noncitizens are voting in large numbers in Mississippi. But Republicans said the bill is a simple proposal that adds another layer of verification to the state’s process for ensuring only citizens vote.
“I want to be clear, this isn’t a bill to disenfranchise anyone. This is a bill to make sure that registered voters in Mississippi and the people voting in our elections are U.S. citizens,” said Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England, a Republican from Vancleave. “To many of us in here, even one instance of someone that is caught voting that is not a U.S. citizen throws our entire election integrity into doubt.”
In a statement, Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman and state Rep. Cheikh Taylor from Starkville said millions of Americans lack a passport or immediate access to other documents proving citizenship, a reality that could prevent eligible Mississippians from voting.
“Republicans aren’t solving a problem, they’re creating one on purpose,” Taylor said. “There is no voter fraud crisis in Mississippi. There is a participation crisis, and instead of addressing it, they have made it worse. The SHIELD Act is a poll tax dressed up in modern language, and Mississippi Democrats will fight it with everything we have.”
Under the bill, if someone tries to register and can’t produce a driver’s license number or if the number doesn’t appear in the Statewide Elections Management System, a county registrar would have to verify whether the person appears in a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services database called SAVE.
Government agencies use the federal database to verify an applicant’s immigration status or citizenship. If a person is flagged in the SAVE database, the registrar would notify them and offer a chance to provide documents showing U.S. citizenship before their registration application is denied or canceled.
The legislation would also require the secretary of state’s office to run an annual comparison of the statewide voter registration system against the SAVE database to spot registered voters who may be ineligible. Any matches would be sent to local registrars for verification. The local registrars would also report a list to the secretary of state’s office every year, noting how many registered voters were flagged and how many were ultimately removed from the rolls.
The legislation in Mississippi arrives as the Trump administration pushes to “nationalize” elections with a federal bill that could potentially prevent millions of people from casting ballots. Both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature have also advanced bills this session aiming to crack down on immigration, despite some lawmakers raising concerns that the federal government is responsible for enforcement and that the proposals could inadvertently harm U.S. citizens.
If Reeves signs the SHIELD Act or allows it to become law without his signature, it will go into effect on July 1.
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