How the SAVE Act Threatens Voting Rights Across America.
In my studies, I have become a lot more interested in understanding law and policy. Under the Trump administration, there has been a very watchful eye when it comes to their policy, and it has been understandable. Since the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, which skyrocketed insurance for millions, I have tried to keep up with other bills they are proposing.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) is the exact thing we need to be opposing. It was just passed by the House of Representatives in a 218-213 vote, which means it will now be passed along to the Senate for a vote. So here are the things I think you should know:
What is the SAVE Act?
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, on the surface, aims to address the concerns that the right has about non-citizens voting in U.S. Elections. This act will require proof of U.S. Citizenship at the time someone registers (or must re-register) to vote. However, digging deeper into the effects of this policy is where the real truth starts to come out.
First, I should say that claims that the 2020 election was stolen have still been unfounded. Furthermore, Noncitizen voting is extremely rare. Instead, this puts a new burden on eligible voters, and WILL stop people from registering to vote.
A valid driver’s license is no longer enough to prove your elligible to vote. You would need at least one of these:
A Passport (which only 45% to 50% of Americans have)
A birth certificate AND your photo ID (and the names have to match)
Naturalization Papers
According to NPR (which these statistics are from 2024, so things are subject to change), “About 1 in 10 adult citizens, or 21.3 million eligible voters, say they either do not have or could not quickly find in order to show the next day their U.S. birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship.”
As stated, not even a majority of the population has a passport. They are extremely expensive to obtain; it will run you about $165 dollars, and then $130 dollars every time you must renew it.
If you have ever changed your name, and your ID does not match your birth certificate name, you would need to provide additional documentation to prove that you changed your name. This specifically targets Women who changed their name after getting married.
This also targets Black and Brown communities, who are statistically less likely to have the forms of voter ID this law would require.
This affects you too:
As I mentioned before, this law is not only applicable to people registering to vote for the first time. It means any time you register. This law also puts new rules on mail-in voting. Again, requiring voters to submit a copy of an eligible ID when requesting and casting an absentee ballot.
I will use myself as a real-life example. I am from Baltimore, Maryland originally, but go to school in New Jersey. So if I were to request a mail-in ballot to vote in midterms this year, I would need someone in my family to either mail me my passport or my birth certificate. If that wasn’t an option, I would need to drive the 1 hour and 30 minutes home to vote in person, and then drive another 1 hour and 30 minutes back to school. It’s ridiculous.
Final Thoughts
I think that this is another sad attempt by the Trump administration to suppress voter turnout in the upcoming midterm elections. The more people he can deny voters’ rights before November, the less vulnerable his agenda is.
If you really think about it, this bill is just a poll tax in disguise. Nowhere in the law does it say that there will be any form of valid identification given to people to stop the issues I have explained above. It is up to the States to figure out how to pay for and implement fairly. So then, the burden just gets placed on citizens to spend upwards of $130 dollars to go vote? Or to go through insane hoops to find your birth certificate, ID, and then even prove that if you changed your name, that you are still you? It feels wildly absurd when there aren’t even verifiable statistics to prove that non-citizens are voting in elections that much to change the outcome. The Save Act isn’t saving any Americans; it’s suppressing us.
I urge everyone to look up their Senator and give them a call. Tell them to vote no on this bill.