Voting impacts all of our lives in very real ways, and most Americans want all eligible voters to have the freedom to vote. They don’t want the results of our elections determined for us by those who will do anything to hold onto power.
Here’s what to know about the SAVE America Act and the federal push to restrict voter access nationwide:
The SAVE America Act was introduced and passed the House in early 2026 and taken up by the Senate in mid-March. In addition to the proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration in the original SAVE Act that failed in 2025, this year's bill requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls. It also requires all states to run their voter lists through the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlements (SAVE) system to identify voters who may be noncitizens. Additional legislation, such as the Make Elections Great Again Act, also requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, among other measures. Many state legislatures have similar bills pending, though Connecticut is not one of them at this time, according to a Voting Rights Lab tracker.
Make no mistake: the SAVE America Act is one of the most brazen attacks on women’s voting rights in the League’s 106-year history. By creating a system of deliberate erasure for 69 million women, this bill doesn’t secure our elections; it architects exclusion. In a country where only 64% of eligible voters turned out to vote in the last Presidential election, this bill threatens to lock the door on nearly half the nation.
- Celina Stewart, Esq., Chief Executive Officer of the League of Women Voters.
The SAVE America Act and similar bills would impact election outcomes by imposing barriers that make it significantly harder, if not outright impossible, for millions of eligible Americans to register or reregister to vote.
This legislation requires that citizens provide specific proof-of-citizenship documents, such as a passport or a certified copy of a birth certificate, in person when registering to vote and whenever they need to update their registration. If a voter's current name doesn’t match their citizenship document, they would be required to present additional documents, such as a marriage certificate or a court-ordered name change decree.
Voter participation is already too low nationwide, even in record-turnout years. The voices of around 80 million voting-age citizens were absent in the 2024 elections alone. These bills would silence millions more voters and undermine election integrity based on lies about who is voting. Here's what we know:
- The claim that large numbers of non-citizens vote in U.S. elections and affect election outcomes has been disproven, as consistently shown by nationwide studies and state audits.
- Non-citizens voting is already illegal in all state and federal elections and carries heavy criminal penalties, such as fines, permanent revocation of any legal immigration status, jail time, and even deportation.
- The 2024 presidential election was among the highest-turnout elections in the past century, yet over 35%—around 80 million—of voting-age citizens did not cast a ballot.
- 21 million Americans already lack access to the ID documents required by these bills.
- The bills would block millions more from voting, including those who have changed their names—69 million married women, trans people, survivors of domestic violence, and adoptees—as well as voters of color, senior voters, rural voters, tribal voters, survivors of natural disasters, and voters with disabilities.
- These bills would allow the federal government to trample on states’ authority to administer elections, ending online and mail-in voter registration, as well as nonpartisan registration drives.
Help protect our freedom to vote!
The 2025 SAVE Act failed, and these newer voter elimination bills can be defeated as well.
Learn more. Contact your Senators. Spread the word so your community and legislators know how harmful these bills are to voters. Make a plan to vote in every local, state, and federal election.
Join the League of Women Voters’ Unite & Rise 8.5 initiative, and commit to defending our democracy.
Unite & Rise 8.5 is part of the LWV Women Defend Democracy campaign and aims to build a movement of 8.5 million individuals to fight back against the anti-democratic actions of the current administration through advocacy, mobilization, civic education, and engagement.
