SAVE America Act Stalls in Senate
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act has stalled in the Senate despite the fact that President Donald Trump vowed not to sign any bills into law until a voting bill is passed.
The measure, which passed the House of Representatives in February, would impose strict proof‑of‑citizenship and voter ID requirements. The bill requires voters to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers, when registering for federal elections. States would have to collect, store, and verify these documents.
The legislation also limits the use of online and mail registration. The bill includes voter‑roll maintenance obligations for states, including data matching and sharing with DHS to confirm citizenship status.
The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that more than 21 million U.S. citizens could be affected because they lack ready access to the required documents. It is also estimated that between 60 and 70 million married women have changed their last name, and would need additional documentation when registering to vote.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R‑Alaska) warned in a Senate floor speech that the bill would make it harder, if not impossible, for many Alaskans to vote. Murkowski said she supports the underlying goals of ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote and that voters show valid identification, but argued the current proposal is “well‑intended” in theory and deeply unworkable in practice.
Murkowski focused on the bill’s requirement that new registrants present citizenship documents in person to an election official. She said that could price some young and rural voters out of the process. She cited the example of someone in Unalaska who might have to spend more than $1,000 on airfare just to show her birth certificate to register. She warned “I fear that they won’t register because financially they won’t be able to register. And if they are not able to register, they can’t vote.”
She added that she does not believe disenfranchisement is the bill’s intent, she said it is likely to be its real‑world effect for many eligible Alaskans, including those in remote Native communities.
In her speech, Murkowski also argued that the SAVE America Act would federalize election rules in ways Republicans have traditionally opposed.
“The States should remain in charge of their own elections,” she said. “They should set their own requirements based on what works for them because we can’t shift to a system that works for many rightful voters but not all, and particularly so close to election day and with no funding for the States to implement the new mandates.”
While rural voters would be greatly impacted, married women, people with disabilities, students, low-income voters, and transgender voters would be disproportionately impacted by the SAVE Act.
The SAVE America Act passed the House and moved to the Senate, where it received hours of floor debate in March but has not cleared the 60‑vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. This leaves the bill stalled as Republicans refuse to do away with filibuster rules.
