Fox's Maria Bartiromo helps GOP Sen. Mike Lee promote the Republican's false narrative that migrants crossing the border are going to vote in federal elections in droves and their latest voter suppression attempt based on that narrative.

Just like Speaker Mike Johnson, Lee has no proof that this is happening anywhere, but that didn't stop him from pretending people would risk going to prison by voting illegally during his interview this Sunday:

BARTIROMO: Let's talk about the bill that you are pushing, the SAVE Act, and I want to get your take on a free and fair election come November. Tell us about the SAVE Act.

LEE: Look, in our country, it's always been one citizen, one vote, and under federal law, only citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections. Here's the tragic thing, Maria. Over the last three, three and a half years, since the Biden administration has been in power, they've let in about 12 million illegal aliens, or an estimated nearly 30 million noncitizens in the United States.

Currently, with the laws we have in place, the so-called motor voter law, the National Voter Registration Act, you do still have to be a citizen to vote, but the Supreme Court has interpreted it as prohibiting those at the state level who register people to vote from requiring the production of evidence of documents proving citizenship, just like you have to show when you get, say, a passport.

They're prohibited from asking for that, and so what that means is a person can fill out a form, and as long as they check the right box and sign their name and are willing to lie, they can vote in federal elections, even if they're not citizens, and they couldn't prove it because they're not citizens.

The SAVE Act would fix that loophole. It would make sure that actually it is going to be American citizens voting in federal elections. It would require the states to go in and review their voter registration files and eliminate those who are not citizens.

BARTIROMO: This is so important, and I know that the RNC and Michael Watley and Lara Trump have been saying that a fair and transparent election is their number one priority.

What kind of a reception are you getting on the SAVE Act from your colleagues? Because, you know, this wide open border has people questioning whether or not illegals are going to vote in the upcoming elections. and what is the motivation for the administration to keep this wide open border?

Ken Paxton, the AG of Texas, last week told me that he thinks when they cross the border, officials are giving them Social Security numbers, and they're giving them voter registration sheets. What about that? Do you have any evidence of that?

LEE: Yeah, so, well, yeah, it's happening all over the place, and in all 50 states now, you can get a driver's license without being a citizen. So that, coupled with the motor voter law, means that it's gonna be very, very easy, if people request it and check the box, to actually become a voter who can vote in federal elections.

Now, with respect to your question about the kind of reception it's getting, universally, Republicans love it. I believe some Democrats love it, but there are a number of Democrats who are belittling it and saying there's no need for it, because they come out and say, oh, well, of course, it's already illegal for noncitizens to vote.

That's not the point. The point is that it's nearly impossible to enforce that law and it's nearly impossible to stop people from cheating and just checking a box signing their name fraudulently, claiming to be citizens. The SAVE Act would fix that. We need to pass the save act immediately.

The "point" is to stop people who should be legally allowed to vote that they don't want voting from being allowed to cast their ballots, and to help Trump pretend the election was somehow "stolen" again if he loses in November.

Here's more on that from Democracy Docket: Congressional Republicans Introduce Nationwide Proof of Citizenship Bill:

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a bill this week requiring people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.

“As we approach the 2024 elections, the American people must have absolute certainty in the integrity of our election system,” Johnson said in a statement. “This bill would fortify federal elections by ensuring that only American citizens vote in American elections.”

[...]

The 22-page bill, titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, amends the National Voter Registration Act to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Anyone registering to vote in federal elections would need to provide an approved form of photo ID — including a U.S. passport, military ID, birth certificate, naturalization certificate or a government-issued photo ID card showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.

The bill also outlines that if someone registers to vote using the National Mail Voter Registration Form, they would have to go to an election official’s office to show proof of citizenship by a certain deadline. Alternatively, they can show proof of citizenship to an election official on the day they’re voting, whether that’s during an early voting period or on election day.

The legislation also requires states to remove noncitizen voters from their rolls, and if someone is unlawfully registered to vote, the Secretary of Homeland Security can determine whether to initiate removal proceedings.

[...]

While noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections, municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont, along with Washington, D.C., allow noncitizen residents to vote in local contests and support their right to do so.

The Movement Advancement Project, an independent, nonprofit think tank, released a report in 2022 detailing the barriers caused by citizens who do not have a photo ID or documents to prove citizenship, especially those in minority groups. According to the report, nearly 30 million people — or one in eight adults — lack a valid driver’s license. Black, Hispanic and transgender individuals are more likely to not have one.

The report also estimates that 15 to 18 million adults in the U.S. don’t have access to documents proving their birth or citizenship because of a variety of factors, including complicated documentation requirements, expensive fees, limited availability of ID services, confusing state policies and discrimination.

Multiple states already have laws requiring voters to present photo IDs, including North Carolina, whose law is currently being challenged in court.