By Key Jones-Ford
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act–herein the SAVE Act–was first introduced on May 7, 2024. According to the official Congress website, it is sponsored by Representative Chip Roy [R-TX-21], and it passed the House in July of that year but did not make it fully to the Senate floor. Representative Roy officially re-introduced the bill on Jan. 3, 2025.
The SAVE Act would require all election officials to verify the citizenship of potential voters either upon registration or when updating voter information. All registrations would have to occur in person. Updating voter registration would also need to be done in person.
“The SAVE Act would make it impossible for a voter to mail in a registration application. And it would eliminate the ability to conduct voter registration drives,” according to the League of Women Voters of Oxford. Failure of election officials to verify documents would result in “a private right of action” and potential criminal penalties against the official. According to Newsweek, the bill is “[…] intended to amend the National Voter Registration Act to ensure that all people registering to vote are U.S. citizens.”
The language between H.R.8281, the bill introduced in 2024, and H.R.22, the bill introduced in Jan. of this year, remain much the same, with the H.R.22 version adding to the second line: “The bill specifies what documents are considered acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship, such as identification that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates U.S. citizenship.” H.R.22 also does not include the time limit that the Election Assistance Commission would have to adapt to implementing the bill’s requirements.
Voter fraud is punished at the federal level, along with additional penalties that vary from state to state; however, it is not common. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “[…] incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent” were reported for voter fraud during their seminal report in 2007. Brookings also reported similar numbers more recently in 2024, with a chart that shows less than 1% of potential fraudulent cases throughout 13 to 38 years.
The bill would also require states to establish proof of legal name change if any portion of the person’s name does not match what is listed on their birth certificate, U.S. passport, or other citizenship-proving documents.
The Dispatch stated, “The bill requires states to establish a process to resolve potential discrepancies present in voters’ documentary proof of citizenship. Supplementary documentary proof that confirms one’s legal name change, such as a marriage certificate, could be used to verify citizenship, although the bill’s language does not state that option outright.”
As the bill only allows citizen-proving documentation, “[…] most Americans would be unable to register to vote using their driver’s license or other state-provided identification alone,” according to a One Pager on the bill. This would make it more difficult for people who do not have passports or birth certificates available to register.
“More than nine percent of American voting-age citizens, or 21.3 million people, don’t have a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers readily available,” wrote Wendy R. Weiser and Andrew Garber for the Brennan Center for Justice. “Voters of color, voters who change their names, and younger voters would be most significantly affected.”
Since its reintroduction to the House Committee, there have been no further actions taken on the bill.
This is a developing story. The Vanguard will provide updates as they are made available.