Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: President Donald Trump has praised India’s electoral system and voters’ identity cards as an example for the United States to follow as he pushes to bring tighter voting rules in his country ahead of the November mid-term elections to Congress, the media reported on Tuesday.
He said India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had spoken with officials from his administration earlier this month, and asked how US elections can be held without a valid photo identification card.
Making a strong case for stricter electoral laws in the US, he praised the Indian election system and recalled Kumar questioning lack of voter identification in American polls.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump said that over 646 million people participated in the recent general elections in India, yet fewer than 1% voted by postal ballot.
The US President made these remarks to drum up support for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act—or 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.
“India’s last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than one per cent voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document.” “We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now,” he asserted.
Trump has been insisting on passing the act, claiming it would curb electoral fraud.
However, both Democrats and Republicans are divided over the issue, and the U.S. Senate adjourned for a five-week recess earlier this month without any concrete steps for its passing.
A fact-sheet on the SAVE America Act on the White House website also noted that India and Brazil have already linked voter identity cards to a biometric database, while the US relies on self-attestation by electors.
The bill also seeks to permanently ban men from competing in women’s sports, and ban transgender mutilation surgery for children.
Trump’s comments come as he pushes Congress to pass the act, which, if passed, would require people voting in federal elections to provide documentary proof of US citizenship. It would also require voters to present an eligible photo identification document when voting.
It sets identification requirements for people voting by absentee ballot. Under the Bill, voters using an absentee ballot would have to provide a copy of an eligible photo ID both when requesting and submitting the ballot.
Trump also called for much tighter restrictions on voting by mail, arguing that elections should rely primarily on in-person voting, with limited exceptions.
India’s elections
India’s election system gives voters several approved ways to establish their identity at polling stations. Trump is using the country’s large electorate and the comparatively limited use of postal voting to argue that the US can impose stricter identification requirements while still conducting elections on a massive scale.
However, India and the US have different election laws, voter registration systems and rules governing postal or absentee voting. India’s electoral process also has specific categories of voters who can use postal ballots.
Why it is controversial?
The proposed legislation has drawn opposition from Democrats and voting-rights groups, who argue that stricter documentation requirements could make it harder for some eligible voters to register or cast their ballots.
Supporters, including Trump and his administration, argue that proof of citizenship and photo identification would strengthen confidence in elections and help prevent voting by people who are not eligible.
The Bill has also faced uncertainty in Congress. Democrats and Republicans remain divided over the legislation, while the Senate adjourned for a five-week recess earlier this month without taking concrete steps towards its passage.