Trump Cites India’s Voting System to Push SAVE America Act
US President praises India's voter ID model as he renews call for stricter election laws in the United States
GG News Bureau
Washington, 18th Aug: US President Donald Trump has renewed his push for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, citing India’s election system and mandatory voter identification requirements as a model for strengthening electoral integrity in the United States.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump referred to remarks attributed to India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, stating that the Indian election official had questioned why elections in the United States are conducted without requiring a valid photo identity card for every voter.
Highlighting India’s electoral process, Trump said the country’s most recent general election saw 646 million voters, with less than one per cent voting through postal ballots, while every voter was required to possess a valid photo identity document.
“We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now,” Trump said, arguing that stricter voter identification requirements would help prevent electoral fraud.
The proposed legislation would require individuals to provide proof of US citizenship while registering to vote in federal elections, introduce a nationwide voter identification requirement and significantly restrict voting by mail.
Backing Trump’s position, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor praised India’s voter authentication system, describing it as a global benchmark. In a post on X, Gor said India’s election process demonstrated the effectiveness of universal voter identification and urged the US Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.
The legislation, introduced earlier this year, has become a subject of political debate in the United States, with lawmakers remaining divided over its provisions. The US Senate recently adjourned for a five-week recess without taking further action on the bill.
According to the White House, the proposed law seeks to ensure that only US citizens participate in federal elections. It would require proof of citizenship and valid identification for voter registration, permit mail-in ballots only under limited circumstances such as illness, disability, military service or travel, and direct states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
The White House also compared US election procedures with those of other democracies, noting that countries such as India and Brazil link voter identification to biometric databases, while the United States largely relies on self-attestation for citizenship during voter registration.
