What you need to know
In April 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, by a 220-208 vote. SAVE Act supporters call the bill a necessary step to prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections. Opponents say it creates significant barriers for eligible voters. What would its effects be if it became law?
- The SAVE Act is designed to eliminate the possibility of non-citizens voting in U.S. elections.
- The Act's provisions, if implemented, might also prevent some eligible citizens from casting a vote.
- This brief explores the logic behind these two possibilities.
What Problem Is the SAVE Act Trying to Solve?
The SAVE Act amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to “require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office.” Currently, no state legislation allows non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and voters must attest to being U.S. citizens when registering; non-citizens who attempt to register face fines, prison, and deportation.
The issue with current registration requirements is that in most states, people must prove their identity, age, and residency, but can attest (under penalty of perjury) to their citizenship. Moreover, while people need to prove either citizenship or legal status (green card or valid visa) to get a Real ID driver’s license, at present, licenses in 45 states do not indicate whether someone is a citizen.
Instances of non-citizen voting in American elections are extremely rare. In 2016, when about 137 million votes were cast, about 30 confirmed cases occurred in a study of 42 jurisdictions, including 8 of the 10 most inhabited by non-citizens. There is no evidence that noncitizen voting has ever altered an election outcome.
Even so, the concern is that noncitizen voting might become more common in the future or be decisive in some regional contests. The SAVE Act aims to eliminate the possibility of noncitizens voting in current and future elections. In doing so, the SAVE Act makes voting comparable to other activities in everyday life (such as opening a bank account), where it is mandatory to establish identity using a small set of acceptable documents.
What Would the SAVE Act Do?
The SAVE Act would add more voter registration requirements. Under the bill:
- Real IDs (such as a driver's license) would no longer suffice for voter registration.
- Voters must provide citizen-verifying certified documents in person, such as a U.S. passport or birth certificate.
- Military and tribal IDs would not be sufficient unless accompanied by additional documents that confirm citizenship.
- Voter registration would have to be done in person, effectively ending online, mail-in, and voter registration drives.
The Act also allows (but does not mandate) states to establish procedures whereby individuals could establish citizenship by submitting other documents to local election officials. These officials could accept or reject the evidence, potentially allowing people to vote without a passport or birth certificate.
What Could the Impact Be?
The SAVE Act would create more barriers against noncitizen voting, well above current law.
However, only about half of Americans have a passport, and 70 million U.S. women have changed their names after marriage, creating potential mismatches between birth certificates and current IDs. Implementing the SAVE Act would require these individuals to obtain a passport or an updated birth certificate to vote. The Act would also make it somewhat harder for people to register to vote, as people who register by mail or at the DMV would instead have to go to their local Board of Elections.
Taken together, these issues suggest that the Act could reduce voter turnout, as some citizens may abstain rather than secure the necessary identification. In 2013, Kansas enacted a proof-of-citizenship requirement similar to the SAVE Act. It is reported to have blocked 12% of voter registration applications—more than 30,000 individuals. It is believed that over 99.9% of these registrants were U.S. citizens. Many were unaware their registration was incomplete until they arrived at the polls on Election Day.
The Take-Away
The SAVE Act highlights a long-running debate: balancing election security with accessibility.
In a world where individuals must establish their identification for many routine transactions, the relatively weak requirements for voter registration are an exception to the rule.
These requirements are consistent with the goal of maximizing voter turnout. However, they also weaken election security, potentially if not in practice.
The SAVE Act would make it all but impossible for noncitizens to vote. In doing so, it would also make it harder for a larger number of American citizens to vote. Deciding whether the Act is beneficial requires consideration of both of these effects.
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Further reading
National Conference of State Legislators. 2024. Legislative Approaches to Ensuring Only Citizens Vote, https://tinyurl.com/y9a7h38f, accessed 5/19/25
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2014). Issues Related to State Voter Identification Laws. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-14-634, accessed 5/19/25
Sources
U.S. Congress (2025) H.R. 22 - SAVE Act. https://tinyurl.com/4mns4uu5, accessed 6/2/25
Keith, D, Perez, M. & Famighetto, C. (2017) Noncitizen Voting: The Missing Millions, Brennan Center, https://tinyurl.com/8hmtrrwb, accessed 5/19/2.
Federal Election Commission (2017) Federal Elections 2016. https://tinyurl.com/yc8feuan, accessed 5/22/25
U.S.. District Court (2016) Steven Wayne Fish, et al., v. Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State (Civil Action No. 16-2105-JAR-JPO), https://tinyurl.com/mr362cs8, accessed 5/22/25.
Kamarack, E. (2024) How widespread is election fraud in the United States? Not very. https://tinyurl.com/ymnvd65s, accessed 5/25/25.
Contributors
Ralph Fernando (Intern) is an Economics and Mathematics student at Indiana University Bloomington. He will graduate in May 2025 and plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Economics.
Lindsey Cormack (Content Lead) is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology and the Director of the Diplomacy Lab. She received her PhD from New York University. Her research explores congressional communication, civic education, and electoral systems. Lindsey is the creator of DCInbox, a comprehensive digital archive of Congress-to-constituent e-newsletters, and the author of How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It’s Up to You to Do It) and Congress and U.S. Veterans: From the GI Bill to the VA Crisis. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, Big Think, and more. With a drive for connecting academic insights to real-world challenges, she collaborates with schools, communities, and parent groups to enhance civic participation and understanding.
William Bianco (Research Director) is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University and Founding Director of the Indiana Political Analytics Workshop. He received his PhD from the University of Rochester. His teaching focuses on first-year students and the Introduction to American Government class, emphasizing quantitative literacy. He is the co-author of American Politics Today, an introductory textbook published by W. W. Norton, now in its 8th edition, and authored a second textbook, American Politics: Strategy and Choice. His research program is on American politics, including Trust: Representatives and Constituents and numerous articles. He was also the PI or Co-PI for seven National Science Foundation grants and a current grant from the Russell Sage Foundation on the sources of inequalities in federal COVID assistance programs. His op-eds have been published in The Washington Post, Indianapolis Star, Newsday, and other venues.
