What is the SAVE Act? Election experts say bill could complicate voting for millions

The House of Representatives is expected to vote soon on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a Republican-backed bill that would reshape the federal elections process.

Known as the SAVE Act, the proposed legislation would tighten voter registration requirements by mandating proof of citizenship for federal elections.

The bill was scheduled for a vote in early April, but on April 1, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled remaining votes for the week — pushing the timeline back.

Republicans argue the legislation will safeguard elections by ensuring non-citizens cannot vote — something President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed is a major problem.

But elections experts say that non-citizen voting — which is already criminalized — is “vanishingly rare.” And they caution the bill will instead make voting more burdensome for American citizens, particularly married women and rural residents.

“The practical difficulties that this act would entail if it were passed aren’t small, even if the concept sounds unremarkable,” Justin Levitt, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School, told McClatchy News.

Here’s what to know about the SAVE Act.

What does it do?

The bill, proposed by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, requires individuals to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections or when making updates to their registration. Among the acceptable documents are passports, birth certificates and military IDs.

Currently, Americans do not need to show proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, though they must affirm their eligibility to vote under penalty of perjury, according to NBC News.

The proposed bill also stipulates that proof of citizenship must be shown in person to election officials, meaning it cannot be completed via the mail or online.

Additionally, the bill mandates that states conduct reviews of their voter rolls in order to remove non-citizens.

The bill largely aligns with Trump’s March 25 executive order, which states that documentary proof of citizenship will be required for voter registration. The order has been subject to legal challenges.

“This legislation cements into law President Trump’s executive action to secure our voter registration process and protect the voices of American voters,” Johnson wrote in a March 31 post on X. “American citizens — and only American citizens — should decide American elections.”

Non-citizen voting

Election experts said the proposed bill is a solution in search of a problem.

“The amount of non-citizen voting in the United States is not zero, but it’s very close to zero,” David Becker, the founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, told McClatchy News.

Becker cited recent audits in states like Ohio, Iowa and Georgia, which revealed just a few instances of non-citizens voting.

For example, a 2024 audit of Georgia’s voter rolls — including some 8.2 million voters — revealed 20 people who were not citizens were registered to vote, according to ABC News. Of them, nine had cast ballots.

Further, voting by non-citizens is already criminalized by federal and state law. Specifically, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 explicitly prohibits non-citizen voting in federal elections and says violations are punishable by fines and imprisonment of up to one year.

As such, there is little incentive for non-citizens to try to vote, Levitt said.

“You get, at most, one incremental vote, and that’s the upside,” he said. “The downside is that you are creating a paper record of having violated both federal and state law,” a trail that will inevitably be discovered.

Effects on citizens

The bill will likely impact eligible voters, some of whom will “find it difficult or impossible to satisfy these new requirements,” Levitt said.

A 2024 study found that nearly 10% of adult citizens lack quick access to documents like passports or birth certificates that prove their citizenship, according to The Guardian.

Married women, in particular, may face challenges as the names on their birth certificates may not match up with those on other documents, Becker said.

“For a woman who got married and changed her name, now it’s not just one piece of paper you have to find, it’s two,” Becker said. “And very few people need their marriage licenses for any particular reason, so that may be even harder to track down.”

Some older Americans, particularly those in rural areas, were also never issued birth certificates, Levitt said.

“So there’s a non-trivial number of people who either don’t have it all or don’t have readily available the documentation to prove that they’re citizens that they would need under the (proposed bill), he said. “And by non trivial, I mean in the millions.”

Additionally, barring citizens from providing their documentation in the mail or online will mean some voters may have to travel long distances to show up in person at election offices.

“It effectively increases the burden on anybody who doesn’t live next to or near the registration office,” Levitt said. “So that’s going to be a particular tax on rural populations.”

This means that the SAVE Act, if passed, could end up hindering registration by many of Trump’s own voters, who are more likely to live in rural areas, he said.

This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 2:50 PM with the headline "What is the SAVE Act? Election experts say bill could complicate voting for millions."