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Mass. pols decry the SAVE America Act. Will it really disenfranchise voters?
“They’re hoping that this bill will pass and will make it so hard to vote that many American citizens will just give up.”
Massachusetts politicians offered a blistering rebuttal after the SAVE America Act cleared the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday, warning that the strict voter ID bill could disenfranchise millions ahead of the midterm elections.
Under the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, U.S. voters would need to furnish proof of citizenship — such as an American passport or birth certificate — to register to vote in federal elections. The legislation would also require voters to show photo identification in order to cast a ballot, which some states already stipulate.
While Republican lawmakers say the bill is necessary to prevent voter fraud and maintain election integrity, many Democrats and public policy organizations caution that the ID requirements amount to voter suppression tactics that would undermine critical 2026 elections.
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“Republicans know their ideas are unpopular. They see the writing on the wall this November,” U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern recently warned. “And instead of trying to win fair and square … they want to cheat. They’re hoping that this bill will pass and will make it so hard to vote that many American citizens will just give up.”
So, what does the SAVE act actually mean for voters? Here’s what to know.
The context
The SAVE act comes as President Donald Trump calls on Republicans to “nationalize” voting in the U.S. — Trump’s latest attempt to overhaul federal elections in what critics have called a breach of the separation of powers.
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As part of the same push, the Trump administration recently sought ballots in Georgia from the 2020 presidential election, which Trump claimed was “rigged” after he lost to former President Joe Biden. The U.S. Department of Justice also sued Massachusetts and three other states late last year for their voter registration data.
But how popular is the push for voter ID? A 2025 Pew Research Center poll found 83% of respondents favored requiring all voters to show government-issued photo ID, including 71% of Democrats and 95% of Republicans. Gallup similarly identified rising support among Democrats for requiring photo identification to vote.
The SAVE act is a renewed version of a bill that passed through the House in 2025, only to stall in the Senate. And with midterm elections nearing and lawmakers jockeying for control of Congress, the timing of this legislation couldn’t be more pivotal.
Who will the SAVE act impact most?
Federal law already includes citizenship as a condition to vote, and instances of non-citizens voting fraudulently are extremely rare. Further, a voter who lies about their citizenship when registering to vote in federal or state elections faces criminal prosecution. In Massachusetts, for example, would-be voters have to swear they’re a citizen under oath, and illegal voter registration is punishable by a maximum fine of $10,000 and up to five years in prison.
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Illegal voting by non-citizens can also carry with it serious immigration consequences, including immediate deportation.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, “there are easier, more cost-effective ways to improve citizenship verification that don’t create new barriers for eligible voters.” The Washington, D.C. think tank suggests a “back-end verification” model that puts the onus on the government, rather than voters, to verify citizenship status using existing databases.
After all, as the Bipartisan Policy Center points out, 9% of all eligible voters don’t have — or lack easy access to — documentary proof of citizenship. Fifty-two percent of registered voters don’t have a current passport with their legal name, and 11% lack access to their birth certificate, the think tank notes.
The Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal nonprofit law and public policy institute, estimates about 21.3 million people don’t have proof of citizenship readily available, and at least 3.8 million don’t have these documents at all. The nonprofit also found the proposed voter ID requirements would disproportionately impact people of color.
“This is Jim Crow voter suppression, full stop,” U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley said following Wednesday’s House vote. “And that is why I voted ‘hell no.’”
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The Democratic Women’s Caucus likewise warned the SAVE act could impact voters who changed their name through marriage or a court order, meaning their birth certificate does not match their legal identity. Those voters would need to provide additional documentation or take extra steps to be allowed to cast their ballot.
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“It won’t make our elections more secure — but it will block women from the ballot box,” the caucus wrote in a statement posted to social media.
U.S. Rep Seth Moulton further noted the bill would burden seniors who no longer have their original birth certificates, transgender people who have legally changed their names, and students or military personnel voting away from home.
Moreover, obtaining the necessary records listed under the SAVE act could prove costly. For adults, the cost of applying for a new U.S. passport is $165, while renewing an expired passport costs $130. In Massachusetts, meanwhile, a certified copy of a birth or marriage record costs $20 per copy for an in-person request, $32 per copy by mail, or $54 for the first copy requested online or over the phone.
What Massachusetts elected officials are saying
“I have news for my Republican friends: Americans don’t want to be saved by you,” McGovern said prior to the vote. “They don’t want you screwing up the next elections. They don’t want you to make it more difficult for them to participate in the next election.”
He also highlighted a portion of the bill that would require states to turn their federal election voter rolls over to the Department of Homeland Security as a way to identify any individuals who are not U.S. citizens and remove them from the list.
The SAVE act, he argued, “is fundamentally predicated on a lie” of widespread non-citizen voter fraud.
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“Republicans are pushing the SAVE America Act because they want fewer Americans to vote. It’s that simple,” McGovern said. “Republicans have looked high and low to find fraud, and you know what they have found? Someone is more likely to get struck by lightning than to vote illegally.”
Pressley likewise described the bill as “a solution in search of a problem that does not exist.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark added: “Republicans aren’t worried about non-citizens voting; they’re afraid of actual American citizens voting. Why? Because they’re losing.”
Both Clark and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan cited the rising cost of living as a more pressing problem than voter identification.
“Rather than addressing the issues that matter, like lowering grocery costs and helping families get ahead, [Republicans] are prioritizing a bill that disenfranchises millions of American women,” Trahan said prior to Wednesday’s vote.
“This isn’t just bureaucratic nonsense. It is an outrageous attack on the rights of women across our country,” Trahan continued. She further accused Republicans of failing to address parts of the SAVE act that would burden married voters who have legally changed their name.
“They either don’t care that millions of American women will be stripped of their right to vote, or that has been their goal all along,” Trahan charged.
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