Outside U.S., voters must show ID, proof of eligibility; Democrats decry such laws as undemocratic

Developed countries and even emerging countries such as Mexico require some form of personal documentation during the voting process.

In the U.S., however, Republican efforts this year to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, to require proof of citizenship to register to vote is a nonstarter with Democrats, who have long opposed national voter ID laws as undemocratic and discriminatory.

France requires voters to present one of a dozen official documents, such as national identity cards, passports and hunting permits with photographs.

“To vote, you must prove your identity,” the government’s website said.

In Germany, localities use registries of residents to enter voters into the system. They notify residents of their eligibility within 21 days of the election, and voters must show that notification at the polls.

“The electoral board can ask you to show your ID. If you have forgotten your voting notification, you must present your ID,” the German government said.

Mexico expects voters to present a voter ID card with a photograph.

“All persons with Mexican nationality, by birth or by naturalization, who are 18 years of age or older, and have an honest way of living, have the right to vote,” according to the National Electoral Institute. “However, in order to exercise this right, the law establishes certain additional requirements such as registration of the citizen in the Federal Registry of Voters and possession of a photo-voting card, which is issued free of charge by the [National] Electoral Institute.”

Three dozen U.S. states have laws requesting some form of ID at the polls. Others use methods such as checking names and addresses on file and asking for a signature at the polling place.

Thirteen states do not require any documentation to vote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said it is too easy for illegal immigrants to get on the registration rolls.

He is pushing the SAVE Act, which would prohibit all states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the person offers documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.

The motor-voter form in the U.S. has a Box 6 that requires applicants to document a driver’s license number or a partial Social Security number. That is supposed to be a safeguard against fraud, but the speaker’s white paper on the SAVE Act said states are too lax in checking the information, allowing noncitizens to get on the voter rolls.

The form is similar in some ways to the system in Australia, which requires voters to enroll online and provide an Australian driver’s license number, passport number, Medicare card details or citizenship number.

Voting is compulsory in Australia, resulting in a highly centralized system. In the U.S., rules vary from state to state.

Mr. Johnson said that patchwork makes Box 6 on the motor-voter form unreliable.

“The requirements in each state related to Box 6 do not allow states to demand proof of citizenship. Rather, an individual can, in nearly all states, register to vote without supplying any unique, government-issued identification number,” Mr. Johnson said.

Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said, “Our entire registration process is an honor system.”

To register, an applicant will “provide his name, residential address, birth date and either a driver’s license number or last four digits of his Social Security number, although he is still allowed to register if he asserts he has neither number,” Mr. Spakovsky said. “He checks a box on whether he is or is not a citizen of the U.S. But no state requires any identification document or proof of any kind that verifies that you are who you say you are and live where you say you live.”

He said many countries issue national ID cards.

“That national ID system allows places like Canada to automatically register all of its citizens in that system to vote,” he said. “Plus, all of them require you to show that ID when you vote, a requirement we do not have here except in certain states that have implemented an ID requirement — every one of which has been opposed by the political left and fought over in the courts.”

Many European nations do not allow absentee ballots because of fear of fraud or misuse.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson championed a requirement for voters to show passports, driver’s licenses or other IDs. After it was implemented last year, he was turned away from a polling station when he forgot his ID, according to news reports.

Northern Ireland required voters to show up with photo ID long before the rest of Britain.

“When voting at a polling station in Northern Ireland, you are required to present acceptable photographic identification. The identity document does not need to be current,” a government website says.

Some countries’ systems differ from the U.S. framework, with or without the Republican proposal.

A 2020 paper from the Pew Research Center said countries such as Argentina, Chile, Hungary, Israel and the Netherlands register voters automatically based on government records such as census counts.

Republicans described the SAVE Act as a commonsense measure addressing a distinct U.S. problem: unchecked illegal immigration.

“The SAVE Act is a response to what we deem to be one of the immediate threats, and that is illegals voting,” Mr. Johnson said at a recent press conference. “You don’t get to go into a liquor store or to go buy cigarettes and check a box and say, ‘Oh, I’m 21, give me the product.” That’s not how it works. It’s not logical.”

The SAVE Act would require states to take ongoing steps to ensure that only citizens are registered and to identify noncitizens attempting to vote. Mr. Johnson wants to attach the legislation to a short-term spending bill to keep federal operations funded and avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Democrats staunchly oppose the citizenship check. They say citizenship is already required to vote and noncitizen voting is already illegal.