At a March 17 press conference, a reporter asked GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson “Can you give one example of fraud in a previous election that the SAVE America Act would stop?” Johnson refused to answer because no such example exists. Here’s a quick account of the directives and problems with the Voter Suppression Act.
Voter fraud is extraordinarily rare, and virtually no votes have been cast by non-citizens
Even the data of right-wing groups like the Heritage Foundation show the absurdity of GOP claims. In California, our most populous state, they claim to have found 71 cases of voting fraud…among more than 23 million registered voters…over more than two decades! In each of the last three years, Heritage researchers found exactly one proven instance of voter fraud.
Citizenship is already a requirement to vote. Registering to vote in a federal election as a non-citizen is a felony punishable by imprisonment and immediate deportation; no sane person would consider such risk for a lottery-ticket chance of impacting an election outcome.
Utah just finished reviewing its entire voter registration list in January of 2026. After reviewing more than two million registered voters, they identified one instance of noncitizen registration, and zero instances of a non-citizen vote. Even the Trump Regime’s own investigation showed non-citizen voting to be a myth.
The proof-of-citizenship requirement as proposed is an unconstitutional poll tax
Currently, voters typically provide official ID and attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury. The SAVE Act would alter the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require most people provide proof of U.S. citizenship (no matter how long they’ve been registered) when registering to vote in federal elections. You will no longer be eligible to vote or register to vote using a driver’s license or other state-provided identification alone, but would be required to show a passport or a combination of documents and photo ID (detailed here).
As of 2024, at least 21 million Americans did not possess this documentation. Any person who lacks their birth certificate or changed their name upon marriage or for other reasons may be in for a time-consuming and potentially costly chase to prove who they are. If the government wishes to scrutinize the citizenship of citizens, it may do so without burdening citizens with the cost.
Under the SAVE Act, all those who register to vote by mail or online must visit an election office to show their proof-of-citizenship documents before being eligible.
Women will be impacted most heavily
For married women who have changed their names (more than 70% of those married), their current legal name does not match the name on their birth certificate. About half of adults have passports (costing over $100), but all others will need to provide additional documents to connect their birth name to their current name, creating a unique cost and burden.
Enforcement creates opportunities for discrimination and manipulation
Local officials will be left to decide what documentation is authentic. Given the recent record of partisan manipulation, the SAVE Act invites discrimination based on race, sex, or partisan affiliation.
The DHS, led by Trump loyalists, would acquire every state voter roll—supposedly so staff could compare state rolls with the agency’s own citizenship data. But this data has historically been riddled with inaccuracies, and its use would likely lead to eligible voters being wrongfully booted from the rolls.
Lower income people, who move more often, face disenfranchisement or additional costs and burdens
The SAVE Act not only requires proof of citizenship, but also proof of residence to register. Voters moving shortly before an election could be challenged if they do not immediately get a new driver’s license with their current address (usually at additional expense). On average, roughly one in 10 people moved in-state annually in recent years, but most people don’t update driver’s licenses until they must be renewed.
The Act would mandate voter roll purges every month, virtually ensuring some voters will be disenfranchised by mistakenly being removed from voter rolls right before Election Day.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (HR 22,) passed the House on a 220–208 vote, with four Democrats joining an otherwise party-line vote. As of March 20, 2026, a Senate vote appears imminent. Republicans seem unlikely to muster the 60 votes needed to break a certain Democratic filibuster. We urge you to call your Senator via the U.S. Capitol switchboard today at (202) 224-3121 to advise your Senators on the SAVE Act.
For additional details and information on the proposed (and even more extreme) Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, see Five Things to Know About the SAVE America Act
We can’t win playing only defense!
While Reclaim Democracy covers voter suppression attempts, we constantly work to focus energy on the root problem: U.S. citizens lack any affirmative right to vote and possess only voting privileges. See Key Elements of a Right to Vote Amendment to learn more.
Related resource: Landmarks in Voting History & Law