The Republican-led SAVE Act isn’t about “integrity” — it’s about SHUTTING DOWN American votes ahead of the 2026 midterms. This week the U.S. House rammed through a Trump-backed federal election overhaul that would force every citizen to show their papers just to register or cast a ballot — demanding a passport or birth certificate instead of the sworn attestation Americans have relied on for decades.

This isn’t a tweak to election law. It’s a last-minute rewrite of who gets to participate in our democracy.

Let’s be clear: citizenship is already a legal requirement for voting in federal elections. Non-citizen voting is illegal and extremely rare. But rather than improve the system, this bill weaponizes that fact to create a new barrier between citizens and the ballot box.

For most of us, registering to vote means checking a box that says “yes, I am a U.S. citizen” under penalty of perjury. The SAVE America Act in its current form would flip that script — every eligible voter must physically produce documentary proof of citizenship in person. That obliterates online registration, mail-in registration, and voter drives overnight.

And that’s just the beginning of the harm. Because the documents the bill prioritizes — passports or birth certificates — are downright inaccessible to tens of millions of people.

An estimated 21 million U.S. citizens don’t have passports or birth certificates readily available, meaning this bill could literally strip their right to vote unless they jump through federal hoops.

Targeted voters aren’t a fringe few: marginalized communities, low-income families, people of color, young voters, and women — especially those who have changed their name after marriage — are disproportionately impacted by a system that now demands they “prove” they are American.

Meanwhile, this bill incentivizes states to hand over sensitive voter data to federal authorities and adds criminal penalties for election workers who register voters without the “correct” paperwork — even if those voters are legitimate citizens. That’s not integrity; that’s intimidation.

Republicans know lower turnout benefits them. They’re counting on these barriers to chip away at Democratic-leaning voters — Black, brown, young, and low-income Americans whose voices matter most this November.

If this bill becomes law, it won’t just reshape voting rules — it will reshape who gets to participate in our democracy.

This isn’t an abstract policy dispute; it’s a direct assault on the founding principle that every eligible citizen should have a fair shot at making their voice heard. And with control of the House and Senate on the line in 2026, it’s urgent that progressives, organizers, and everyday voters understand exactly what’s at stake.