How the SAVE Act Threatens Millions of Voters' Rights
The SAVE Act imposes strict ID requirements, disenfranchising millions of eligible voters. Learn how it threatens American democracy and voting rights.
How a New U.S. Voting Law Threatens Millions of Eligible Voters
In democracies, voting should be simple: you register, you prove who you are, and you cast your ballot. But history shows that authoritarian regimes rarely block voters outright. Instead, they build bureaucratic roadblocks, layer technicalities on top of existing laws, and claim it’s all in the name of security. This is precisely what the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act threatens to do.
Recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 22 would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, a requirement that sounds reasonable until you examine the details. The bill creates significant barriers for millions of legal voters by mandating documents that many do not have or that conflict with other legal records.
Under the guise of preventing non-citizens from voting, a problem that rarely happens, this law would silently disenfranchise millions of Americans, particularly women who have changed their names, transgender and nonbinary individuals, low-income citizens, seniors, and rural residents. The consequences would be far-reaching and devastating for democracy itself.
A Documentation Nightmare
The SAVE Act imposes a strict requirement: anyone registering to vote must provide a U.S. passport, birth certificate, naturalization papers, or a specific type of ID proving both identity and citizenship. At first glance, this might seem like a minor change until you realize that most standard forms of ID do not meet this requirement.
Most Americans carry REAL ID driver’s licenses, which were created to improve identity verification after 9/11. But REAL IDs do not prove U.S. citizenship. They are issued to both citizens and non-citizens who are legally in the U.S., such as green card holders and visa workers. The bill also claims that a "REAL ID-compliant ID" is sufficient, yet fails to acknowledge that most REAL IDs do not indicate citizenship status at all.
There is only one kind of driver’s license that proves both identity and citizenship: an Enhanced Driver License (EDL). These IDs exist in just five states: New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, and Washington. That means for the vast majority of Americans, their driver's license alone will not be enough. They will need to find, pay for, and submit additional documents, documents that, for many, are difficult or impossible to obtain.
Who Gets Shut Out?
The barriers created by the SAVE Act do not affect all Americans equally. Some groups would face disproportionately higher obstacles to voter registration, deliberately or not, and this bill targets the most vulnerable Americans.
Women Who Have Changed Their Names
More than 90% of married women in the U.S. change their last name upon marriage. However, birth certificates do not get updated when someone takes their spouse’s name. If a married woman presents an ID with her current legal name, but her birth certificate has her maiden name, she will be denied voter registration unless she also provides proof of name change, a document many people do not have on hand decades after their marriage.
Divorced women who revert to their maiden name face the same issue. If their birth certificate and current ID do not match, they may need a certified divorce decree to prove their identity, a hurdle that serves no legitimate purpose in voter registration.
Transgender and Nonbinary Americans
Trans people often face significant bureaucratic challenges in updating their identity documents. Some states allow gender marker changes on birth certificates, while others do not. Federal passport regulations currently do not allow gender marker updates without extensive documentation. If someone’s documents do not align perfectly, they could be denied the right to vote simply because of mismatched paperwork.
A transgender woman whose birth certificate lists her dead name but whose current ID reflects her new legal name would be caught in a bureaucratic trap, forced to either revert to her dead name or lose her right to vote.
Low-Income and Rural Americans
Obtaining a passport or a certified copy of a birth certificate costs money. A U.S. passport currently costs $165, an amount that is prohibitive for Americans living in poverty. For those born in rural areas, especially older voters, tracking down original birth records can be an expensive and time-consuming process.
Many states also have long delays in issuing replacement birth certificates, some taking months. If voter registration deadlines arrive before a person can obtain their documents, they are simply locked out of the process.
Seniors and Natural-Born Citizens Without Easy Access to Records
Many older Americans, especially those born in rural areas, never had a birth certificate issued at birth. Others may have records that were lost due to fires, government mismanagement, or simply the passage of time.
The government itself acknowledges that millions of American citizens do not have easy access to their birth records. Yet the SAVE Act provides no alternative verification process, meaning lifelong U.S. citizens could be denied voter registration simply because they were born before modern documentation systems were widely used.
Authoritarian Tactics in Disguise
Historically, oppressive regimes do not openly ban certain voters from participating. Instead, they create obstacles under the pretext of security, order, and fraud prevention. The SAVE Act follows this pattern, mimicking voter suppression strategies seen in authoritarian countries:
In Iran, married women must re-register if their identification does not match their current legal name, a bureaucratic hurdle that disproportionately affects female voters.
These tactics all operate under the same principle: make voting technically legal, but practically difficult for certain groups. The SAVE Act does not need to explicitly ban voters, it just ensures that millions of them cannot meet the new bureaucratic requirements in time.
What Happens Next?
The House has passed the SAVE Act, but its fate in the Senate remains uncertain. Republicans hold a 53-seat majority, but the bill needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. For now, Democrats are unlikely to support it, but that does not mean the bill will disappear.
If the SAVE Act becomes law, it will fundamentally change voter registration in America. All forms of automatic and online voter registration would be eliminated. In 42 states, residents can currently register online, and 24 states have some form of automatic voter registration. Both would be banned under this law.
Instead, every new voter would need to go in person to present proof of citizenship. Voter registration drives, where volunteers sign up new voters at community events, would be effectively outlawed. The only way to run a registration drive would be to transport people directly to the government office with their documents, a logistical and financial burden designed to deter registration efforts.
What Can Be Done?
Fighting back against the SAVE Act requires public pressure and awareness. Many Americans do not yet realize what this bill does or how it could impact them. Sharing information, contacting senators, and supporting voting rights organizations will be crucial in preventing this law from moving forward.
If the SAVE Act passes, citizens must prepare now by obtaining the necessary documents before it becomes law. Those affected by name changes should start gathering certified records of name changes, marriage licenses, or divorce decrees.
The right to vote should not depend on bureaucratic technicalities or financial status. If American democracy is to remain intact, voter registration must be accessible, simple, and fair.
The SAVE Act is not just about preventing fraud, it is about silencing voices. And if history has taught us anything, it is that democracy dies not with a bang but with a pile of paperwork too cumbersome to complete.