Trump and his supporters are calling the SAVE Act common sense. It isn’t. In the era when the Voting Rights Act still had real power, election policy was judged by consequences, so lawmakers could not hide behind intent. If you look at the actual consequences of the SAVE Act, it clearly isn't common sense.
“The SAVE Act would require Americans to show proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, when registering to vote.”
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260209/RCP_S1383_xml.pdf
https://www.factcheck.org/2026/03/qa-on-the-save-america-act/
“The days of registering at the DMV or online may be gone for good.”
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260209/RCP_S1383_xml.pdf
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/why-the-save-america-act-is-so-contentious-29e2f66d
“Supporters say it’s a commonsense proposal to protect election integrity, to stop voter fraud.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/saveamerica/
https://www.factcheck.org/2026/03/qa-on-the-save-america-act/
“The rationale being that non-citizens are voting illegally en masse to sway elections.”
https://apnews.com/article/dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/13/explainer-save-america-act
“Supporters say this is about stopping non-citizens from voting. But when states actually check, they almost never find any evidence that this is happening.”
https://apnews.com/article/dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2026/01/23/are-non-citizens-voting-utahs/
“In Utah, officials audited roughly two million registered voters at great expense and found one non-citizen registered, and that person never voted.”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2026/01/23/are-non-citizens-voting-utahs/
https://kutv.com/news/local/utah-review-finds-more-than-999-of-registered-voters-are-us-citizens
“Georgia also conducted an audit and found 20 non-citizens registered out of about 8.2 million voters, and only 9 had voted in prior elections.”
https://apnews.com/article/14532ef49b66f9cbf34ff483d2534280
https://georgiarecorder.com/briefs/georgia-gop-secretary-of-state-reports-audit-found-20-noncitizens-registered-to-vote-out-of-8-2m/
“That’s about 0.00024%.”
https://apnews.com/article/14532ef49b66f9cbf34ff483d2534280
“Across the country, the numbers look similar.”
https://apnews.com/article/dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/03/26/noncitizen-voting-is-very-rare-in-ohio-and-america-not-having-proof-of-citizenship-isnt/
“The SAVE Act would require documents to prove citizenship such as a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers to register.”
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260209/RCP_S1383_xml.pdf
https://www.factcheck.org/2026/03/qa-on-the-save-america-act/
“About 21 million Americans don’t have those documents readily available.”
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/millions-americans-dont-have-documents-proving-their-citizenship-readily
https://apnews.com/article/dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
“For many people, that means taking time off work, traveling to government offices, and paying for replacement documents just to register.”
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/brennan-center-letter-senate-opposing-save-america-act
https://apnews.com/article/dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
“Statistically, the burden falls disproportionately on lower-income citizens.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/18/save-america-act-trump-voting-republicans/
https://apnews.com/article/dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
“Supporters often say that many European countries, as well as Canada and Australia, require voter ID.”
https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=ids&document=index&lang=e§ion=vot
https://www.aec.gov.au/enrol/
“In the United States, a driver’s license isn’t proof of citizenship, so people would have to obtain additional documents just to participate in elections.”
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260209/RCP_S1383_xml.pdf
https://www.factcheck.org/2026/03/qa-on-the-save-america-act/
“Oh and if you think a REAL ID will work? It won’t as it’s available to green card holders and lawful residents who can’t legally vote.”
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/driver-licenses-identification-cards/real-id/what-is-real-id/real-id-info-non-u-s-citizens/
https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/real-id-act-text.pdf
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260209/RCP_S1383_xml.pdf
“Look at Kansas, where they passed a similar law.”
https://www.aclu.org/cases/fish-v-schwab-formerly-fish-v-kobach
https://www.aclukansas.org/app/uploads/2021/05/fish_v._schwab_-_10th_circuit_court_of_appeals_decision_18-3133.pdf
“Out of 1.7 million voters, the state blocked 31,089 eligible Americans from registering, which was about 12% of people attempting to register at the time.”
https://www.aclukansas.org/app/uploads/2021/05/fish_v._schwab_-_10th_circuit_court_of_appeals_decision_18-3133.pdf
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-109/159368/20201102130911762_20-109%20Schwab%20v%20Fish%20Brief%20in%20Opposition.pdf
“Which stopped 31 thousand eligible Americans from voting.”
https://www.aclukansas.org/app/uploads/2021/05/fish_v._schwab_-_10th_circuit_court_of_appeals_decision_18-3133.pdf
“Guess how many non-citizens were found voting that year? Three. Not percent, THREE PEOPLE!”
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/kansas-once-required-voters-to-prove-citizenship-that-didnt-work-out-so-well#:~:text=That’s%20an%20issue%20Congress%20could,it%20will%20get%20even%20easier.%E2%80%9D
