03/14/2026
Congress continues to introduce bills that would require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to register and/or vote. In the 119th Congress, three major pieces of legislation have been introduced to require DPOC to vote, including:
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in 2025 and would require citizenship documentation to register to vote, and, more recently
The SAVE America Act and the Make Elections Great Again Act, which have even stricter components than the SAVE Act, like requirements for voters to present DPOC both at registration and the polls, and for absentee ballots to be received by election day.
Collectively, we are referring to these pieces of legislation as the “SAVE Act suite of bills.”
It is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. Requiring documentary proof of American citizenship to register to vote in federal elections is unnecessary and seeks to divide us. It simply creates another barrier to voting.
Many communities of eligible voters would be unnecessarily burdened by the requirements of the SAVE Act. Among them are:
Military voters, who would be required to present documentation every time they re-register to vote when their family moves.
Families who have been impacted by natural disasters and lost important documentation, who would be required to jump through hoops to replace these documents while also going through the traumatic process of rebuilding their lives.
Married women and other Americans who have changed their names, who would also be required to secure updated documentation to register to vote.
People of color. Compared to white US citizens, citizens of color are three times more likely to lack documents such as birth certificates, passports, naturalization certificates, or certificates of citizenship or face difficulties accessing them. For example, while approximately half of all American adults possess a passport, two-thirds of Black Americans do not.
Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote. The SAVE Act would create one more barrier to the voting process, as many eligible voters do not have easy access to the necessary documents.
Tell Congress to oppose the SAVE Act suite of bills.
