Ben Gibson
Senior Fellow, The James Madison Institute
The SAVE Act amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to require states to obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering individuals to vote in federal elections.1President Trump has also taken steps to strengthen voter citizenship verification.
See Executive Order, Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections (Mar. 25, 2025).
- Eligible documents include a REAL ID-compliant identification indicating U.S. citizenship; a valid U.S. passport; a military ID and service record showing U.S. birthplace; a government-issued photo ID showing U.S. birthplace; or a government-issued photo ID that does not indicate birthplace or citizenship and a valid secondary document.
- States are prohibited from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents proof of U.S. citizenship.
- States must establish an alternative process by which an applicant who does not have the requisite documentary proof of citizenship can submit other evidence to demonstrate U.S. citizenship, subject to minimum standards set by the Election Assistance Commission and signed attestations and affidavits by the applicant and election official making the determination of citizenship.
The SAVE Act requires states establish a program to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and authorizes states to utilize existing federal databases, including the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database and the Social Security Administration’s Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS), to verify citizenship status. If it is determined that an alien is unlawfully registered to vote in federal elections, the Secretary of Homeland Security must conduct an investigation to determine whether to initiate removal proceedings.
The SAVE Act allows for a private right of action against election officials who fail to uphold proof of citizenship requirements for federal elections and adds criminal penalties for election officials who register noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
The Election Assistance Commission must adopt and transmit guidance for implementing the SAVE Act’s requirements to chief state election officials within 10 days of it becoming law.
Recommendations
Improvements to the SAVE Act:
- Require that states’ programs to remove noncitizens from voter rolls include interaction with other states’ databases to enable regular information exchanges.See Model Legislation, 2Heritage Foundation, https://www.heritage.org/electionscorecard/pages/legislation.html (last visited Feb. 27, 2025).The Top 25 Common-Sense State Election Integrity Reforms, America First Policy Institute Center for Election Integrity (Oct. 19, 2021), https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/the-top-25-common-sense-state-election-integrity-reforms.
- This would allow states to regularly verify the accuracy of their voter rolls by comparing them to other states’ jury forms, DMV records, and other government records to identify noncitizens.3Heritage Explains Voter Fraud, Heritage Foundation, https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/heritage-explains/voter-fraud (last visited Feb. 27, 2025).
- Further amend the NVRA to prohibit Automatic Voter Registration for federal elections.4Anna Pingel, Non-Citizen Voter Registration and Voting in U.S. Elections, America First Policy Institute Center for Election Integrity (Dec. 20, 2024), https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/non-citizen-voter-registration-and-voting-in-u.s-elections.
- In the alternative, further amend the NVRA to require written consent before registering an eligible individual to vote.5Heritage Foundation, supra note 2.
State-level:
- Every state should amend its constitution to ensure that only American citizens vote in elections, as many states, including Florida, have done in recent years.
- Every state should compare, monthly, its voter rolls with databases maintained by its Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Corrections, State Vital Records Division, and the State Welfare and Public Assistance Agencies.6Ibid
Read “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act” here.
