- The SAVE Act would undermine election integrity based on lies about who is voting.
- This bill will make it significantly harder, if not outright impossible, for millions of eligible voters to register or re-register to vote and have their voices heard.
- Voters are already required to show identification in order to vote. The SAVE Act is an attempt to trick us into making it harder for millions of eligible Americans to cast their votes.
- The SAVE Act isn’t about safeguarding elections — it’s about silencing voters. We must join together to oppose this dangerous legislation and protect people’s freedom to vote.
- With the SAVE Act, legislators are proposing changes to our elections that would severely limit access to the ballot for eligible Americans, especially voters of color, rural voters, military members, and women.
- The SAVE Act is an attempt by the federal government to usurp authority over elections at all levels.
Burdening Citizens
- The SAVE Act would put up barriers to voting by requiring every single American citizen to provide very specific documents, chiefly by either presenting a passport or an original copy of their birth certificate, in person when registering to vote and anytime they update their voter registration.
- This would be on top of voter ID laws that the majority of states already have in place.
- This bill would especially burden military voters, tribal voters, rural voters, survivors of natural disasters, and the tens of millions of married women in America who have changed their names.
- Surveys show that eight in ten married women have changed their surname, meaning they do not possess a birth certificate that matches their current legal name and therefore could not present it as valid proof of citizenship.
- Rural voters, working class voters, voters of color, and older Americans are less likely to hold a passport or readily accessible birth certificate, disproportionately harming their ability to vote under this bill.
- Members of the US Military could not even use their military ID to register to vote, unless it is accompanied by their military service record AND that record shows they were born in the US. Members of the military born overseas, including while their parents were serving abroad, could not use this type of ID.
- Tribal citizens would be unable to register using their Tribal ID alone. The SAVE Act would require Tribal ID to show the holder’s place of birth as the US, but most Tribal IDs do not list a place of birth.
- This bill would prevent survivors of natural disasters from registering or re-registering to vote if their passport or original birth certificate was lost or damaged.
The SAVE Act and the Elections Executive Order
On March 25, 2025, an executive order was issued with many provisions limiting access to voting. The executive order is unlawful and is one more example of executive overreach. For that reason, our strategy is to focus the public on what they can do about the SAVE Act.
Read: A Dangerous Attempt to Silence American Voters: LWV Responds to President Trump’s Anti-Voter Executive Order
(LWVUS)
https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/dangerous-attempt-silence-american-voters-lwv-responds-president-trumps
On March 27, 2025, the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS), the Brennan Center for Justice, ACLU, Legal Defense Fund, and NAACP sent a letter to the Election Assistance Commission outlining the illegal actions in the Order and asking them to take no action to implement it. Leagues can also share this letter with the public or reporters, with attribution to LWVUS.
On April 1, 2025, the League of Women Voters Education Fund, LWVUS, LWV of Arizona and partners filed a federal lawsuit asserting the Order violated the constitutional separation of powers and federal law. Read LWVUS’s statement and the legal center case. These pieces may be shared with the public or reporters, with attribution to LWVUS.
Use these talking points if you are asked about the executive order as it relates to the SAVE Act. Please do not proactively bring up the executive order since LWVUS has ongoing federal litigation around it. If you have questions or if reporters have inquiries about the EO or our litigation, contact us or send them to media@lwv.org.
- An executive order is not a law, but if passed, the SAVE Act would be.
- The provisions of the SAVE Act are included in the executive order.
- PIVOT TO PURPOSE: Both of these pieces are attempts to undermine voting access.
- PIVOT BACK TO SAVE ACT: What people need to know is that the SAVE Act threatens to make voting more difficult for millions of people. Join us in calling on your members of Congress to oppose this dangerous bill.
- Then go back to your SAVE Act talking points.
- For further questions specific to the executive order or our litigation, direct reporters to media@lwv.org.
Background: It doesn’t happen
- Let’s be clear: there is absolutely no evidence of widespread non-citizen voting in federal or state elections. It is just not happening anywhere in federal or state elections.
- False claims about non-citizens voting in federal elections are a pretext for undermining our access to vote, and they spread misinformation about voting.
- These claims are coming from anti-immigrant conspiracy theorists attempting to fearmonger and sow distrust in our democratic process for their own political gain.
- It is already illegal for non-citizens to register and vote in federal elections. Every state also bans non-citizens from voting in state elections. Violations can lead to imprisonment and deportation.
- Municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
- Voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering to vote. State election officials also have existing systems to verify voter eligibility and ensure accurate voter rolls.
What we need
- Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote.
- We need Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act and pass pro-voting reforms like Same-Day Registration, protections for voters with disabilities, and funding for the Election Assistance Commission.
- If legislators really want to secure and improve elections, they should invest in upgraded equipment, expanded staffing for election administrators, and training for poll workers.
