election advocacy

Protect Voting Rights: Take Action Against the SAVE Act

2/18/26 10:02 AM by IGNITE

The Senate is preparing to vote on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (H.R.22), legislation that has the potential to fundamentally change voter access for generations to come. The House of Representatives approved the SAVE Act on February 11, 2026. Many people aren't aware of the documentation requirements this bill would impose.

The SAVE ACT Controversy: Proposed New Documentation Requirements for Voting

The SAVE Act proposes to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by requiring documentary proof of citizenship (i.e., a US passport, a certificate of citizenship, a US birth certificate or certificate of birth, a consular report of birth abroad, or a naturalization certificate) to register to vote or to update voter information (for example, to change address) in federal elections.

Rumors and Reality: Debunking Myths Used to Promote the SAVE Act

Proponents of the SAVE Act argue incorrectly that noncitizen voting is a critical problem in the US. There are two key reasons why this argument is flawed.

Citizenship is already a requirement to vote, and election officials verify citizenship before registering voters.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections just as every state has its own laws prohibiting noncitizens from voting in statewide elections. States use existing government databases to verify voter identity and prevent attempts to register with false or fraudulent information.

Instances of noncitizen voting are extremely rare, and there is no evidence that noncitizen voting has ever impacted an election’s outcome.

The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Cases database only identified 77 instances of noncitizen voting between 1999 to 2023—that’s approximately 3 noncitizens voting per year (Bipartisan Policy Center 2024). More recently, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program identified only 0.04% of noncitizen voter cases (Bipartisan Policy Center 2026). Both of these studies make one thing clear—the number of noncitizens voting is much too insignificant to have any impact on election outcomes.

Missing Papers, Missing Votes: Millions to Face Barriers at the Ballot BoX

Millions of eligible citizens may be unable to vote if this legislation is passed.

First, more than 21 million eligible citizens, nearly 1 in 10 Americans, do not currently have or are unable to easily access documentation proving their citizenship (Brennan Center for Justice 2024). This includes those whose documents were destroyed, lost, or stolen.

Second, many eligible citizens who do have documentation proving citizenship, do not have current identification that matches this documentation, which is necessary to vote in most states. In these cases, additional documentation is required, creating another logistical challenge. For instance, a woman who takes her husband’s last name, would need to show three documents: proof of citizenship, current identification document, and marriage certificate. Since 79% of women in heterosexual marriages in the US take their last husband’s last name (Pew Research Center 2023), this legislation would disproportionately affect women voters, including an estimated 69 million married women (National Women’s Law Center 2025). This would similarly affect approximately 3.3 million eligible transgender Americans (Center for American Progress 2025).

One case study from Kansas demonstrates the potential impact: before requiring this documentation, noncitizen registration accounted for less than 0.002% of registered voters; after adopting this requirement, approximately 31,000 eligible citizens—12% of all applicants—were prevented from registering to vote.

Act Now: How to Stop the SAVE Act from Becoming Law

Here’s what you can do to stop this dangerous legislation from becoming law.

Contact your senator.

Call your senator and ask them to oppose the SAVE Act and similar bills that will prevent eligible citizens from voting. You can find the name and phone number for your senators and representatives here.

Spread the word.

Share this blog with your network and encourage them to take similar action.

__________________________________