New Delhi: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised India’s election system and voter identification requirements, citing Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and calling for a passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act which seeks stricter citizenship requirements for voters.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump recalled Kumar’s recent question to the US administration: “How can you have elections in the US without a valid photo ID?”
Trump also noted that India’s last general election had 646,000,000 voters, that not even 1 per cent of voters in India voted by mail, and that every voter was required to present valid photo identification for voting.
Gyanesh Kumar meets Sergio Gor
Trump’s post came a week after CEC Gyanesh Kumar met US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, where the two agreed to work together closely to deepen ties on election management and staff training.
Sergio Gor, in a post on X, wrote Tuesday, “President Donald J. Trump is absolutely correct! 646 MILLION voters, every single one required an ID in India’s last election. Congress should pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!”
SAVE America Act
The Trump administration has made the SAVE America Act a key priority. The Act includes provisions for documentary proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, photo identification at polling stations and tighter restrictions on absentee voting.
The Act was passed in the House of Representatives earlier in this year but has repeatedly failed to make it through the Senate, the upper chamber of the country’s legislature.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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