H.R. 3162 would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide free of charge the citizenship status of any person applying to register or who is registered to vote in a federal election to state election officials who request that information. The bill also would require DHS to promulgate regulations to implement the requirements.
Under current law, states may verify a person’s citizenship for the purposes of voting through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program, which is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within DHS. USCIS currently charges $0.50 for each SAVE inquiry to offset its costs; the agency can adjust that amount by regulation. Those fees are treated as reductions in direct spending and can be spent without further appropriation.
