The Save Act & Save America Act 2026

​The SAVE act  (Chip Roy 2025)  SAVE America Act 2026 (Mike Lee, Lindsay Graham)

Reasons to be watchful on the Save America Act, and it’s possible state-level clones.


Gloss of the Save Act
    Wikipedia has a good article on the proposed legislation (link at end).  The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act, and the 2026 version: SAVE America Act, is a proposed United States law that would require "documentary proof of United States citizenship" to register to vote in federal elections—with add-ons.  The Campaign Legal Center has a good brief overview.  I’m not going to duplicate those sources, just highlight certain items. 
    Short, but big item: The legislation goes into affect immediately after it becomes law.
  Also, for grins:  The bills state the paperwork reduction guidelines do not apply.
    First section is about registering to vote.   Registering by mail requires follow-up.
 In states where you can register on day of voting, proof of citizenship has to be presented at that time.  Following is a section about removing voters you don’t trust because they might not be citizens.  And then a section about penalties for election officials.
    The third section is about proving yourself at the polling place.  A photo ID is required for voting…Maybe states are exempted if they have submitted list of eligible voters to Dept pf Homeland Security(?).   

    There is an argument that this proposed legislation should be tossed as unconstitutional, because the constitution states that the states run the elections.  The legislation consistently talks about requirements “for federal elections” as if that separated the issue from state purview.  However, much of the act modifies the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, signed by Clinton, to mandate easier voter registration by the states, particularly through procedures for getting a driver’s license.*  So for the voter registration aspect, that horse has left the barn.    The third section addresses voting, so still a constitutional question, maybe.
    * That law, signed in 1993, went into effect in 1995.  Whereas…

 History
  The 2025 bill passed in the House, but not the Senate.
  The 2026 version passed the House, but has not been voted on in the Senate. [? Trump has insisted the bill be passed and that it contain amendments banning mail-in voting (with some exceptions), and new provisions against transgender rights (which would have to clear both houses).  The bill has been amended in the Senate to address Trump’s demands.?]

Provisions
    Reading just the first part of the act, most of us will come away not too alarmed.  This is because the act begins by saying proof of U.S. citizenship means “any of the following documents”.  The full list is appended.  I think if you have obtained a Texas driver’s license, or updated your license recently, it will be a “Real ID” and so     qualify.  Several states have already in place this list (or mostly the same) for people applying for a Real ID or Enhanced ID.  
    The list is appended, below.
    The act demands that registering to vote by mail requires a follow-up, a delivery of photo ID and proof of citizenship to the registrar. (States are required to make allowances for disabled, etc.)  
    There is much dreck to go through, and I may discount some of it that proves important.  There is language about removing non-eligible voters (which illustrates that some mandated voter registration steps are not needed) and potential penalties for officials who administer elections.  This latter section could have real effect of causing officials to go beyond  standard practice just to insure they are not challenged.

    Finally, after making it harder to register by mail and insuring that non-citizens are not registering, we get down to Section 3, “PHOTO VOTER IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR VOTING IN A FEDERAL ELECTION”.  So, here again the federal legislation attempts to take over the state charge to manage elections.  And again, we have stated requirements for an “eligible photo identification document”.  Basically, besides a photo, and being from one of an accepted list of issuing authorities, the ID needs to have full legal name, something that proves you are a citizen, and either the issuer’s identification number or the last 4 digits of SS number.  Does our Texas “Real ID” prove we are a citizen? Here’s where the legal name vs birth name problem show itself.  Some requirements are waived if the state uses the SAVE system for excluding non-citizens.  
    You can prove yourself at the polls with a less-than-perfect ID along with another document that shows you are a citizen.  Maybe this will not be such an issue in Erath County, but think about how this would slow down the voting line in Dallas and Fort Worth if just 10% of voters needed to do this.

The section also presents an additional identification step for absentee voting.

    The bill does not authorize federal funding for the new state responsibilities it creates, and it includes no phase-in period.
The bill requires removal of suspected non-citizens from existing voter rolls, though it does not require prior notification of erroneous removals.
The 2026 version of the bill also adds the requirement for states to share unredacted voting rolls with the Department of Homeland Security as another means to validate citizenship.


Beyond the Basics
   I think the impact of the proposed legislation would depend to a big degree on the bent of state officials.  The bill would provide cover for rulings that we all have to re-register, for example.  The bill promotes states signing on to the SAVE system for identification of non-citizens, a system which has a reputation as imperfect.  Texas and other states could use this as a template for new state laws.

     Who says that Texas DL is or is not compliant?  I assume this would be our Secretary of State, Jane Nelson.  Her Facebook information casts her in a favorable light.  However, she did go along with removing Texas from the federal ERIC system.
    I wonder if county election officials being primed to be a problem?  Would we be informed? How to respond to that?  Have there been communications from the state Democratic leadership on this bill? 
    Perhaps this measure is just to get a foot inside the door.


References, Additional Info:


From HRC newsletter, March 21, 2026
  about the period following the civil war:
“When white former Confederates in Georgia nonetheless tried to keep Black Americans from holding office, expelling Black legislators from the legislature after the 1868 election, Congress continued to insist on equality. It refused to seat the elected lawmakers from Georgia in the U.S. Congress and wrote the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution to specify that equal rights included having a say in government. The Fifteenth Amendment said: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Once again, it gave power to Congress to enforce the amendment.”

From a voices of democratic women FB post:
    Since this comes up a lot in discussions about the SAVE Act, remember that there’s a difference between a marriage license and a marriage certificate. To obtain legal identification like a Real ID or a passport, it’s the marriage certificate that you need, not the marriage license. 
I know many married people who have their marriage license but don’t have their marriage certificate – or at least don’t have it handy where they can easily locate it.
Of course, with regards to the SAVE Act, this may be irrelevant because – despite what AI or some right-wing media outlets might claim – this bill doesn’t say you can use a marriage certificate as a “bridge” document to prove a name change.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Voter_Registration_Act_of_1993
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeguard_American_Voter_Eligibility_Act
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/27/texas-save-database-voter-rolls-removal-dps-secretary-of-state/

https://campaignlegal.org/
https://campaignlegal.org/update/clc-sues-texas-over-save-system-usage-conduct-voter-purges

https://campaignlegal.org/update/what-you-need-know-about-save-act

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/119/hr7296/text

List of documentation:


The legislation’s author, Chip Roy, did not have to come up with the list of documents to use to establish citizenship.  Various states have these documents listed to use to get a Real Id or Enhanced ID.  

    ‘‘(1) A form of identification issued consistent
with the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States. (“that indicates”…apparently not all Real ID’s do so indicate.)
 ‘‘(2) A valid United States passport.
‘‘(3) The applicant’s official United States military identification card, together with a United
States military record of service showing that the
applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.
‘‘(4) A valid government-issued photo identification card issued by a Federal, State or Tribal government showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.
‘‘(5) A valid government-issued photo identification card issued by a Federal, State or Tribal government other than an identification described in
paragraphs (1) through (4), but only if presented together with one or more of the following:
‘‘(A) A certified birth certificate issued by a State, a unit of local government in a State,
or a Tribal government which--
 ‘‘(i) was issued by the State, unit of local government, or Tribal government in
which the applicant was born;
‘‘(ii) was filed with the office responsible for keeping vital records in the State;
 ‘‘(iii) includes the full name, date of birth, and place of birth of the applicant;
‘‘(iv) lists the full names of one or both of the parents of the applicant;
 ‘‘(v) has the signature of an individual who is authorized to sign birth certificates
 on behalf of the State, unit of local government, or Tribal government in which the applicant was born;

 ‘‘(vi) includes the date that the certificate was filed with the office responsible for keeping vital records in the State; and
 ‘‘(vii) has the seal of the State, unit of local government, or Tribal government that issued the birth certificate.
 ‘‘(B) An extract from a United States hospital Record of Birth created at the time of the
 applicant’s birth which indicates that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.
‘‘(C) A final adoption decree showing the applicant’s name and that the applicant’s place
 of birth was in the United States.
 ‘‘(D) A Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a citizen of the United States or a certification of the applicant’s Report of Birth of a United States citizen issued by the Secretary of
 State.
 ‘‘(E) A Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of
 Homeland Security or any other document or method of proof of United States citizenship
 issued by the Federal government pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act.
‘‘(F) An American Indian Card issued by the Department of Homeland Security with the classification ‘KIC’.’’
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