By Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket / April 10, 2025
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a major voter suppression measure that, if it became law, could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters and badly undermine U.S. democracy.
The vote count was 220 to 208, with four Democrats voting for the bill and zero Republicans opposing it. Democrats who voted for the bill were Reps. Jared Golden (Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Henry Cuellar (Texas) and Ed Case (Hawaii).
The SAVE Act would make it more difficult for active voters — Republicans and Democrats alike — to continue participating in elections, and would erect unprecedented barriers for new voters hoping to register and participate.
The bill appears to face long odds in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to overcome an expected Democratic filibuster.
“In a bold new departure for the forces of voter suppression, MAGA’s so-called ‘SAVE’ Act will make it harder for tens of millions of eligible Americans to vote, including tens of millions of people, mostly women, who change their names after marriage,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told Democracy Docket in a statement. “Every eligible voter should be able to access the ballot box, free from legislated intimidation, trickery and harassment.”
Republicans have pursued the SAVE Act under the guise of preventing noncitizens from voting, which they portray as an existential threat to the American electoral system. In fact, illegal voting by noncitizens — and fraud in general — is extremely rare.
“This isn’t about protecting voters or our elections, it’s about politicians who want to protect themselves and pick and choose their voters. But that’s not how democracy works,” Molly McGrath, the director of the ACLU’s national voting rights campaigns, said in statement calling on the Senate to reject the act.
“I am leading the fight in the Senate to push back against this effort to disrupt our already safe and secure elections. This bill cannot pass the Senate — and I will fight every step of the way to block it,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
Among its changes, the bill would require everyone registering to vote or updating their registration information to present documentary proof of citizenship in person. Recent studies have shown that millions of eligible voters lack easy access to documents that prove their citizenship, like a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers.
As many as 21.3 million U.S. citizens — more than 9% of voters — do not have such documents readily available, and over 3.8 million people — around 2% of voters — don’t have any form of proof, according to recent survey results gathered by the Brennan Center for Justice and other organizations.
The law would disproportionately affect voters of color. Millions of people who have taken their spouse’s last name — which includes approximately 69 million married women — and people who have changed their names may also face difficulty when registering or updating registration info because the law doesn’t specify what documents would be accepted to prove their identity.
Rural voters or people with disabilities would be affected as well, because the measure requires documents to be presented in person, which also undermines mail and online registration systems and voter registration drives.
“My Republican colleagues crafted and passed one of the most damaging voter suppression bills in modern history,” Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “There’s no doubt that women, military members, and people of color will be disproportionately impacted. The fight to stop this bill – to protect Americans’ sacred right to vote – is not over.”
In addition to its citizenship requirement, the SAVE Act threatens election workers with up to five years in prison or civil lawsuits if they register someone without the correct documents, even if that person is a citizen.
And the bill aims to restrict mail voting by barring states from counting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day, as many states currently do.
“The SAVE Act would undermine Americans’ ability to participate in free and fair elections, and disenfranchise millions of eligible voters,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement. “This is a threat to our democracy that cannot be ignored.”
Last year, the House passed a similar bill but it stalled in the Senate and then-President Joe Biden vowed to veto it. This time around, President Donald Trump has endorsed the bill and Republicans have majorities in both chambers, though the bill still faces long odds in the Senate.
The SAVE Act was also introduced in the Senate in January but so far has gone nowhere. To pass the Senate, the bill would need a 60-vote supermajority to overcome a filibuster. That would require seven Democrats or independents to join Republicans, which is unlikely.
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This act is one stepping stone on a path to a larger goal of this administration. I’m so relieved it does seem unlikely to pass in the senate, this is another example of pathetic resistance, and downright capitulation of the Democratic Party leadership. While I am determined to keep faith in the American people, I refuse to be surprised by the toothless and useless democrats elected officials.
“The law would disproportionately affect voters of color”.
You know, I hear that all the time. They say it again in this article, that people of color would be disproportionately affected. They don’t, however, explain why they make this statement. What is it about people of color that make them so disproportionately disenfranchised?
I could see how that may have been the case 30, 40, or even 50 years ago, however in 2025, it seems to me that the issues that would have disproportionately disenfranchised people of color in the United States election system have been addressed ad nauseam.
Can someone help me to understand how this act, if passed, would affect people of color differently than us melanin deficient types?
Yes absolutely. We say that the save act will disproportionately affect our brown, black, and indigenous comrades, because those populations are disproportionately affected by under representation and poverty. Communities that predominantly have black brown and indigenous people living in them are having their public utilities, systematically closed. This is not a coincidence. It is an intentional act. This includes public transportation, post offices, and county clerk offices. All the situations that are required for name change, and voter Enrollment. Not to mention the luxury of time. If an individual has no access to transportation has a family and has the ultimate reality of working two jobs, the expectation of them to fulfill these new requirements is virtually impossible. This again is not a coincidence. It is a systematic decision to disenfranchise portions of our population that are not deemed preferred voters. Hope this helps.
Interesting. I do not happen to agree, as I am a melanin deficient person who has a mere high school education and the commensurate salary that goes with it and very little free time myself, but at least you took the time to explain it to me. Thank you.
Hardworking melanin deficient high school grad. Could make interesting subject matter for a country song.
Chris, on behalf melanin deficient High School graduates nationwide, I implore you write one! Don’t forget the usual disparaging things elitist’s, like yourself, might want to demean those beneath them with.
I think what you’re forgetting is that you can go about your life without really having to think about your melanin deficiency because most everything in our culture is crafted to benefit you. Just look at statistics regarding home sales (people without white sounding names are generally at a disadvantage), police stops and police targets in general (disproporiately higher for non-white people, which then leads to higher incarceration rates). And don’t even get me started on the insanely high rates of poverty, alcoholism, and other disadvantages that our Native American communities face because their ancestors were killed off or they were forced into horrendous boarding schools, abused, traumatized, and then sent back to live on awful reservation lands. I can’t believe it’s 2025 and I have to explain this all to you but here we are.
Well, we see what a free education did for you, haven’t we?
I haven’t forgot that I can go about my life without really having to think about my melanin deficiency. In fact, I don’t think about it much at all.
I wonder why those with melanin think about it so much?
With regard to police activity, here’s a link to the FBI’s 2019 crime statistics which state, among another things, of all adults arrested in 2019, 69.9 percent were White. Kind of shoots down that argument, huh?
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/tables/table-43
Native American’s? Really? I can’t believe it’s 2025 and you are still stuck on the injustices done to Native American’s, but here we are.
Wow you’ve really outed yourself now John.
Goodness, it’s 2025 won’t those pesky browns shut up about it! Thanks for showing us not to bother with you.
Michelle, you’re welcome. Have a pleasant day worrying about how those nasty Egyptians enslaved those Jews a few thousand years ago, I don’t think you are over it yet.
John, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. The funny thing is, neither do you! We were having a discussion about the save act. I looked past the fact that you identify as a white man. We had a conversation and then you continued center the convo about yourself! You continue to center the convo about things that are irrelevant. The genocide of the indigenous people that used to live in your county is germane to what we’re talking about. I would suggest channeling your obvious resentment into a better narrative.
Thanks for the suggestion Michelle. I suggest you go pound sand.
The Goddamn Germans ain’t got nothing to do with it.
Absolutely agree
“Small town lights, and a diploma in my hand Graduated top of the class, had bigger plans than this land But the doctor said, “Son, there’s somethin’ ain’t quite right” Melanin’s low, makes your skin a shade of white. (Chorus) I’m a country boy, with a different kind of song A little less sun, but my spirit’s stayin’ strong Got a heart full of dreams, and boots upon the ground Gonna find my place, even if I stand out in this town. (Verse 2) They stare and whisper, pointin’ as I pass Never seen a fella quite like this in these grassy lands But Mama always told me, “Hold your head up high” “The color of your skin don’t define the stars in your eye.” (Chorus) I’m a country boy, with a different kind of song A little less sun, but my spirit’s stayin’ strong Got a heart full of dreams, and boots upon the ground Gonna find my place, even if I stand out in this town. (Bridge) Maybe I’ll move to the city, chase a brighter scene Or maybe I’ll stay right here, and show ’em what I mean That different ain’t bad, and weakness ain’t a shame Gonna build my own success, and holler out my name. (Chorus) I’m a country boy, with a different kind of song A little less sun, but my spirit’s stayin’ strong Got a heart full of dreams, and boots upon the ground Gonna find my place, even if I stand out in this town. (Outro) Yeah, I’ll find my place, beneath that country sun A melanin deficiency ain’t gonna stop what I’ve begun. I’m a country boy, through and through And I’m gonna make my dreams come true.”
Granted, it was AI.
You didn’t have to tell me it was AI, it shows….. hope you fell better now.
I enjoyed posting it.
On another note, you are in no position to call anyone elitist.
Really Chris, what position do I have to be in order to call someone an elitist? Prone? Upright?
As I recall, it was a certain someone who taunted a High School graduate with some sort of elitist BS and even made a joke about writing a county song about it. If you don’t call that kind of bullying elitist, what do you call it?
I think that voting rights will always be under attack so long as the underlying structure, the Constitution, does not guarantee the right to an equal vote. Our rights should not be left in the hands of indirectly elected presidents (who lose the popular vote), unelected Justices, and a comically disproportional Senate that privileges small, conservative, and predominantly white states. The struggle for a new constitution should unite everyone interested in voting rights. https://democraticconstitutionblog.substack.com/p/voting-rights-multiple-fronts-one?utm_source=publication-search