Unpacking the SAVE America Act

A bill requiring voters to prove their citizenship has stalled in the Senate due to fierce opposition. 

Most Republicans say it’s necessary to ensure election integrity. Most Democrats say it’s an attempt at voter suppression. Despite spanning only two dozen pages, the bill is more nuanced than the surface-level debate indicates, analysts say.

The Epoch Times reached out to both left-leaning and conservative think tanks for expert analysis. Two experts, both conservative, responded.

It’s been federal law for a hundred years that only citizens can vote, but Americans have never been required to prove their citizenship to do so.

“There’s no teeth to that law,” said Charles Stimson, former federal prosecutor and senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

“It’s more of an honor system,” he told The Epoch Times.

The bill, dubbed the SAVE America Act and recently passed by the House of Representatives, would require Americans to present a proof of citizenship, such as a REAL ID, passport, or a birth certificate, when registering to vote.

The Senate opened debate on the bill on March 17, but Republicans don’t have the 60 votes needed to advance the measure.

The law is necessary, Stimson said, because in some states, noncitizens can apply for a driver’s license and automatically become registered to vote, unless they specifically opt out.

“I guess under some people’s opinion, we’re just going to trust that people are going to follow the law and not take that extra step of voting,” he said.

What If Your Name Changes?

The bill specifically says people need to present documents that show their current name. 

Democrats have zeroed in on that requirement, noting that most married women no longer have the last name that appears on their birth certificate. 

The bill does account for such situations, according to Hans Von Spakovski, an election law expert and former member of the Federal Election Commission currently at the Advancing American Freedom think tank.

“If you look at the statute, you’ll see that there’s a catch-all provision in it,” he told The Epoch Times. 

“There’s a provision that says that, in addition to these various documents listed, states have to set up a process for individuals who don’t have the listed documents so that they can both file an affidavit and whatever other documentation they have, to prove they’re a citizen.”

Presenting a marriage certificate, for example, resolves the issue with last name changes.

Critics have countered that many people have misplaced their birth certificate or marriage certificate and new ones need to be paid for. The fee is $15-$30 per copy, depending on the jurisdiction, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

The catch-all provision would also mean that different states will set up different rules for proving citizenship. That is inevitable, according to Von Spakovski.

Only for New Voters

The statute would only apply to new registrations. Current voters would not need to re-register.

The law would ensure, however, that issues with noncitizens on voter rolls would be resolved over time by requiring states to set up programs to identify them.

States could do that by checking voter rolls against the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or against the Social Security Administration database, or other databases that provide citizenship confirmation.

Not Enough Votes

While the SAVE Act has sparked a broad debate about voter ID rules, it’s unlikely to become law in the current political climate. 

Because the bill is universally opposed by Democrats, Republicans lack the votes to overcome a Senate filibuster. In addition, several GOP Senators have already indicated they don’t support it.

Republicans may try to force Democrats into an endless talking filibuster, but that requires the Senate to maintain a quorum nonstop, Von Spakovski explained.

“I have my grave doubts that they can actually pull it off.”

—Petr Svab; Stacy Robinson

BOOKMARKS

President Donald Trump repeated on Thursday that he has no current plans to move U.S. troops into Iran. “If I were, I would not tell you, but I’m not putting troops,” he said. 

Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administration (CMS), is scrutinizing health care fraud in the state of Florida. “The reality is that fraud in our government health programs is widespread, sophisticated, and deeply entrenched,” he said in a post on X this week.  

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States may lift sanctions on Iranian oil currently in transit to bolster supply and stabilize energy prices. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he said on Thursday.

After Israel launched attacks on Iran’s gas fields earlier this week, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi warned there would be “zero restraint” if such an attack were repeated. “Any end to this war must address damage to our civilian sites,” he added. 

Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the United States is moving to seize funds transferred abroad by Iranian defectors. “At Treasury, we’ve seen where they wire their money out of the country…we’re coming for that,” Bessent said during a meeting at the White House.

—Stacy Robinson