Given the volume and magnitude of actions taken by the White House since Inauguration Day, it is understandable that most of America’s attention has been focused on the executive branch. What should not be lost in this flurry of activity, however, is legislation being advanced by the 119th Congress that could be just as consequential to the institution most fundamental in a representative democracy: the vote.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act, would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. It passed in the House in July of 2024 but did not advance in the Senate. Recently reintroduced by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, the bill now has a heightened chance of success given partisan unity within government.

The consequences of the SAVE Act belie its name by compromising access to the ballot for large swaths of the populace and complicating an already overly complicated process. Moreover, the act undermines the ideals of the “democratic experiment” begun nearly 250 years ago of a republican form of government — an experiment that, until recently,........

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