House Passes SAVE Act Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, with the vast majority of Democrats voting against it.

Lawmakers approved the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in a 220-208 vote, with four Democrats joining the Republicans’ effort to codify one of President Donald Trump’s executive actions.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, amends the National Voter Registration Act to require that states obtain proof of citizenship in person from people who are registering to vote.

The measure also requires states to establish a program to remove illegal immigrants from existing voter rolls and allows American citizens to sue election officials that don’t follow proof of citizenship requirements.

“In order to preserve this republic, we must uphold what it means to be able to vote in a U.S. election,” Roy said in a statement. “I am grateful that my colleagues answered the call and passed the SAVE Act, as this serves as a critical first step to ensure that we maintain election integrity throughout our country.”

Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the bill, arguing that the SAVE Act would disenfranchise eligible voters who lack identification documents.

“My Republican colleagues crafted and passed one of the most damaging voter suppression bills in modern history. There’s no doubt that women, military members, and people of color will be disproportionately impacted,” Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “The fight to stop this bill — to protect Americans’ sacred right to vote — is not over. I will do everything in my power to ensure every eligible American has access to the ballot box.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) argued on X that the SAVE ACT will have a devastating effect on married women.

“House Republicans’ so-called ‘SAVE Act’ blocks nearly 70 million women from registering to vote—just because they changed their name after marriage,” Swalwell claimed. “They want to disappear your rights, but we’re not going away,” he added.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Swalwell was getting those numbers.

As a community note challenging his post pointed out, there are only 108.1 million woman in the United States over 18 years old.

Out of those 108.1 million, 84 million woman are already registered to vote and don’t need to re-register. That leaves only 24.1 million adult women, about half of whom have passports to provide proof of citizenship. The approximately 12 million that are left can provide marriage certificates—if they are married—to prove their citizenship.

Polling has consistently indicated that there is bipartisan support for voter ID requirements.

A Gallup Poll released in 2024 found that 84 percent of respondents favored requiring a photo ID to vote, and 83 percent supported requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote for the first time.

The fate of the House’s bill is uncertain in the Senate, as there is a 60-vote threshold to advance the bill and Republicans have a slim 53-47 majority.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a companion bill mirroring the House bill earlier this year and currently has 20 co-sponsors, all Republican.

The final version must be passed by both houses, either with the House or Senate’s version as the final text.