CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The SAVE Act is to Save the GOP From Defeat

Photograph Source: G. Edward Johnson – CC BY 4.0

The most restrictive voting bill ever passed by Congress” is how Michael Waldman, CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice, describes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The former counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell wrote in the conservative National Review that “It federalizes elections in a way that Republicans have long opposed.”

Since mid-March, the Senate has been debating the SAVE Act, with President Trump insisting that the Republican majority must end the filibuster to pass it and help Republicans win the 2026 midterm elections.

The SAVE Act Demands Documentary Proof of Citizenship

The Campaign Legal Center has an excellent summary explaining how the Act works to discourage voting. The following categories are drawn from their post, “What You Need to Know About the SAVE Act.” The list is augmented with material from author Paul Loeb ‘s (https://paulloeb.substack.com) article linking this Act to a history of Republican voter suppression, which is provided in abbreviated form below.

Creating Documentation Hurdles Requiring Proof of Citizenship

Americans are already required to verify their eligibility when voting. However, the Act imposes unnecessary barriers to the registration process, requiring voters to provide documentation proving they are U.S. citizens, such as a passport or birth certificate, which many either don’t have on hand or cannot access.

More than 21 million Americans lack ready access to these documents, and Black, Latino, and Asian citizens are three times more likely to lack them. Married people who have changed their names, as well as the young and the elderly, who are more likely to move multiple times, would have problems providing the proper documents to cast a ballot.

In addition, most voters wouldn’t be able to register to vote with their driver’s license alone because licenses generally do not indicate citizenship. Instead, they would need another, less common form of documentation, such as a U.S. passport or a birth certificate.

The SAVE Act could also impact registered voters, too. Any time somebody updates their registration, if they change their address or political party, they will need to provide these documents.

The SAVE America Act would also implement a national voter ID requirement that is more burdensome than almost every state voter ID law currently in effect. Conservatives and libertarians are noted for opposing a national identification card that every citizen must have, with the reasonable fear that it may evolve into a requirement to always carry it, which could be the first step toward an overreach by........

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