Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act

Long title	To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	SAVE Act
Number of co-sponsors	110[ citation needed ]
Codification
Acts amended	National Voter Registration Act of 1993
Legislative history
Introduced in the 119th United States Congress as H.R. 22 by Chip Roy (R–TX) on January 3, 2025 Passed the House on April 10, 2025 (220–208)

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act also known as SAVE Act is a proposed United States law that would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require "documentary proof of United States citizenship" to register to vote. ^[1]

Contents

• Background
• Provisions
• Opposition
• History
• References

Background

The bill's stated purpose is to prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections.

Provisions

The bill defines "documentary proof of United States citizenship". ^[2]

Valid documents for verifying citizenship, as stated by the bill, are one of the following: ^{[3] [2]}

1. An enhanced driver's license, which is a version of the Real ID that indicate citizenship;
2. A valid U.S. passport;
3. An official US military identification card;
4. A valid government-issued photo ID card that lists citizenship status;
5. Any other valid government-issued photo ID card together with evidence of birth as a US citizen or naturalization, such as a US-issued birth certificate, a naturalization certificate, or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA).

Only five of 50 states, namely Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington, currently issue enhanced driver's licenses that indicate citizenship status. ^[4] Ohio passed a law in 2023 permitting issuance of enhanced driver's licenses for an additional $25 fee but has not yet begun implementing it. ^[5] Non-enhanced driver's licenses or state ID cards, U.S. military ID cards, and tribal identification documents would not be sufficient alone since they do not indicate citizenship status and can be issued to non-citizen legal residents of the United States. ^[6]

The bill states that those who register to vote by mail "shall not be registered to vote in an election for Federal office unless (...) documentary proof of United States citizenship" is presented in person. It would likely also curtail the use of automatic voter registration ("motor voter" laws), and online voter registration. ^[6]

For those who cannot provide the documentary evidence required by the bill listed above, the bill would mandate each state to establish a process by which an applicant can sign an attestation that they are a US citizen, and a state or local official would then make a determination. Where there are discrepancies between documents presented, each state would have to provide a process wherein the applicant could submit additional documentation to establish their citizenship. ^[2]

The bill requires removal of non-citizens from existing voter rolls. ^[1]

Opposition

Non-citizens voting in federal elections has been proven to be extremely rare and is already illegal under Section 216 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Opponents of the bill argue that it is intended to suppress voter turnout, as voter registration forms already require driver's license numbers and the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number in compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which registrars are required to use under HAVA to confirm eligibility through databases maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Postal Service. ^{[6] [10]} An analysis by the Center for American Progress found some voters in Alaska and Hawaii would need to fly to reach their election office in accordance with the in person requirement to vote by mail. ^[11] The analysis also found that an estimated 69 million women and 4 million men have a last name that does not match their birth certificate. ^[12] This provision would similarly impact transgender people whose legal names do not match their birth certificates. ^{[13] [8]}

Research from the Brennan Center, "indicates that more than 9 percent of American citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, don't have proof of citizenship readily available". ^[14] The center said the act "would compel voter roll purges that are bound to sweep in eligible American voters" and that "when Arizona and Kansas implemented similar policies at the state level, tens of thousands of eligible citizens were blocked from registering", concluding, "the SAVE Act's proof-of-citizenship requirement is a solution in search of a problem". ^[1]

According to the U.S. Vote Foundation, the SAVE Act would jeopardize voting registration access for US military service members serving abroad and other US citizens resident overseas. ^[15]

History

The original version of the bill passed the House of Representatives in April 2025, but stalled in the Senate. ^[16]

A new version of the bill, alternatively referred to as SAVE America Act, ^[17] was introduced to the House of Representatives in January 2026. ^{[16] [18]} The bill was introduced by Republican Senator Mike Lee, from Utah, and cosponsored by Republican South Carolina Senator, Lindsay Graham. ^[19]

Regarding the effect of the new version of the text if it was to pass, CNBC commented that "low-income and minority voters are more likely to lack the types of documents that would be required by a national voter ID law, leading to less voting participation by those groups." ^[20] In the broader political context, Politico identified the bill as a "rare rallying point for a divided GOP". ^[21]

References