Most Americans have heard about the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), but many have little idea what it is or why it is needed.
The SAVE Act’s purpose is to safeguard elections by ensuring that only U.S. citizens may register and vote. Here are the Act’s basic provisions:
- States may not register people to vote in federal elections without proof of citizenship. Proof of citizenship includes a U.S. passport, a birth certificate, a naturalization certificate, a consular report of birth abroad, a military ID with a record of service including place of birth, a tribal ID, a government photo ID that shows place of birth, or a REAL ID (pursuant to the REAL ID Act of 2005) that notes citizenship, or certain alternate means that the states may establish.
- States must require voters to update these requirements when they have moved, changed their name, or changed their party affiliation.
- States must require people to present this proof in person rather than online.
- States must require people to present a government-issued photo ID when they vote.
- States must maintain their voter rolls by identifying and removing noncitizens from voter lists and must cross-reference their voter lists with federal databases.
According to Rosemary Jenks of the Immigration Accountability Project, the number of noncitizens living in the United States (legally and illegally) is around 30 million, or 9% of the population. That is enough to swing many elections.
In many states, voter registration has been linked to driver’s license applications. Even though U.S. citizenship is already a requirement for voting in federal elections, states have been allowing people to register to vote while applying for a driver’s license, and many do not require proof of citizenship for a driver’s license. Noncitizens, whether legal or illegal, can apply for a driver’s license and then use that license to register and actually vote. If the SAVE Act becomes law, people may still vote by showing a driver’s license, but they may not register to vote without showing proof of citizenship. The 1993 National Voter Registration Act (“motor voter law”), which integrates voter registration with driver’s license application, and the 2002 Help America Vote Act, which requires states to verify identity and residency but does not require verification of citizenship before adding voters to the list, both facilitated this illegal registration.
In short, although federal law already requires citizenship as a requirement for voting, federal and state laws do not provide an adequate means of enforcing this requirement.
No one seems to know exactly how many noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections, but every state that has audited its voter rolls has found noncitizens registered and voting: Virginia has 6,303, Texas has 6,500, and Alabama has 3,251. Numbers in blue states are likely higher because noncitizens tend to concentrate there. This not only means people are voting illegally; it also means noncitizens are being counted in census data for apportioning Congress, resulting in blue states being disproportionately represented.
President Trump says the SAVE Act is necessary to preserve honest elections in America, and Democrats oppose the Act because “they want to cheat.” But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says the act would cause the “destruction of our democracy” by violating “people’s right to vote.” I would remind Schumer that there are two ways a person can be deprived of his/her right to vote:
(1) By refusing to allow the person to vote; or
(2) By canceling out the person’s vote with the vote of an illegal voter.
The SAVE Act does not disenfranchise those legally entitled to vote. It only requires voter registrants to present proof of their legal eligibility to register. The Act makes it much more difficult to cancel out a person’s vote with the vote of an illegal voter, and therefore, it preserves rather than violates the right to vote.
The House passed the SAVE Act on Feb. 11, 2026, by a 218-213 vote. It appears likely to pass the Senate if brought to a vote, but Democrats are currently filibustering the bill. Defeat of the SAVE Act is essential to the Democrats’ strategy to take control of the House in the mid-term elections this November.
The SAVE America Act is therefore crucial to our country’s future. If Democrats control the House, they will paralyze Trump’s presidency as they did under Pelosi in 2019-21.
Alabama’s senators support the SAVE Act, but please contact them and encourage them to make its passage their first priority.
Colonel Eidsmoe serves as Professor of Constitutional Law for the Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy (obcl.edu), as Senior Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law (morallaw.org), and as Chairman of the Board of the Plymouth Rock Foundation (plymrock.org). He and his wife Marleen live in rural Pike Road, Ala., and may be contacted for speaking engagements at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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