U.S. President Donald Trump has cited a remark by India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, to make a case for stronger voter ID laws in the United States. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump referenced India’s recent general election, where over 646 million people participated, with less than 1% voting by mail.
Mr. Trump quoted Mr. Kumar as asking, ‘How can you have Elections in the US without a valid Photo ID.’ He also highlighted that India’s last election had 646,000,000 voters, with less than one per cent voting by mail, and every single voter had to have a valid photo identity document. Mr. Trump is urging the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require those in the U.S. to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote, impose a nationwide voter identification requirement, and significantly restrict voting by mail. The proposed legislation aims to curb electoral fraud.
The Congress party responded to Mr. Trump’s remarks, with the party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera saying, ‘Dear Donald Trump, please take Gyanesh Kumar Gupta to America. And keep him there. We will send our EVMs too by the next available flight.’ Mr. Khera’s response was a swipe at the U.S.
President’s remarks. In a post on X on August 18, 2026, Mr. Khera also said, ‘For all the insults and bullying you’ve sent our way, this is the least we can do for you. To SIR With Love, from India,’ where the mention of ‘SIR’ was seemingly a reference to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The SAVE America Act has faced opposition in the U.S. Congress, with Democrats and Republicans divided over its provisions. A White House factsheet on the legislation noted that India and Brazil had linked voter identity cards to a biometric database, while the U.S. system relied on self-attestation by voters.
