NEDERLAND — With a tense midterms season ahead, the White House has ramped up its efforts to claim preemptive election fraud. Fear of a Democratic onslaught at the polls has intensified Republican claims of America’s endangered election integrity—hence, the SAVE Act.  

H.R. 22 - 119th Congress (2025 - 2026), the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), was originally introduced by Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas in January 2025. It was reintroduced a year later by Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. 

In an effort to ensure that “only citizens are registered to vote in elections for federal office,” the bill aims 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.”

Valid proof of citizenship would include a US passport, a military or government-issued identification card which lists a place of birth, an original (not copy) birth certificate, or “a form of identification issued consistent with the requirements of the REAL ID law that indicate citizenship.” 

The bill also requires Americans to present their documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote. They must present the same proof to an election official in person when voting in an election, even if they plan to vote by mail. 

Those opposed to the bill claim that its imposed requirements are a blatant attempt to suppress voter turnout. There are reportedly just 99 cases of suspected noncitizen voting since the year 2000, according to the Heritage Foundation, yet the bill would target roughly 70 million women, 4 million men, and millions more transgender citizens whose legal names no longer match their birth certificates. 

According to a study by the Brennan Center, more than 140 million Americans do not have a passport, and 21 million do not have access to their birth certificates. 

Additionally, the SAVE Act has faced scrutiny because of how it may also negatively impact US military service members serving overseas—as well as any citizens living outside the country—those with tribal identification documents, those who utilize automatic voter registration, and those who may want to register to vote online. 

The SAVE Act went before the Senate on Tuesday, March 17, for a vote to gauge whether the Republicans have the numbers to get it to debate. There is already worry among the party members about their numbers, as they currently only hold 53 votes in the Senate, and they need 60 to break a Democratic filibuster.

If the bill passes, it would take effect immediately, with states being required to adopt the new regulations within hours of its adoption. 

President Trump recently stated he wants to include even more provisions to the SAVE Act, including a ban on mail-in voting and prohibitions regarding transgender women in sports and gender-affirming care for trans youth. He and House Republicans have threatened that no other bill will pass until the SAVE Act does (except, of course, funding for the Department of Homeland Security).

The vote to open debate on the SAVE Act passed 51-48 on Tuesday, despite Senator Thom Tillis’ (R-NC) absence. Tillis was expected to join Democrats in their efforts to keep the bill from the floor.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats instead, helping to bring the fate of the bill to a debate process expected to take days, if not weeks.