{"id":31045,"date":"2026-03-04T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=31045"},"modified":"2026-03-02T12:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:19:11","slug":"5-things-to-know-about-the-save-america-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/03\/5-things-to-know-about-the-save-america-act","title":{"rendered":"5 Things to Know About the SAVE America Act"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the\u00a0SAVE America Act<\/a>\u00a0in a\u00a0218-213 vote<\/a>\u00a0on Feb. 11. The vote fell largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting in favor of the bill and all Democrats voting against it.<\/p>\n

The legislation, which would amend federal law to require \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship” to vote, now awaits a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.<\/p>\n

Although the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah,\u00a0said the legislation<\/a>\u00a0has secured the support of 50 senators, its passage remains uncertain as Senate rules require most legislation to receive 60 votes to pass, and\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0are emerging that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has worked to procedurally block the legislation from coming up for a vote.<\/p>\n

Here are five things to know about the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n

1. Voter ID Laws Vary By State<\/h2>\n

The effort to implement the SAVE America Act comes as a wide variety of laws govern voting requirements across the U.S.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0National Conference of State Legislatures<\/a>, as of July 2025, 14 states don’t require voters to provide any documentation when showing up to vote: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Vermont.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 10 states require voters to show identification before voting and to sign a statement verifying their identity if they don’t have it: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Washington.<\/p>\n

Thirteen states ask voters to show photo IDs, with voters who don’t have photo IDs having options that vary by state, including filling out a provisional ballot and enabling election officials to engage in signature matching, signing an affidavit or providing proof of identity such as a Social Security Card or debit or credit card: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.<\/p>\n

Arizona, North Dakota and Wyoming don’t require voters to show photo IDs but do require voters who fail to present an identification to vote on a provisional ballot and provide the required identification within a certain time period in order for their vote to be counted.<\/p>\n

Voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin must show a photo ID to vote. If they don’t, they must vote on a provisional ballot and present a photo ID within a specified time for their vote to count.<\/p>\n

2. Requirements For Voting<\/h2>\n

The SAVE America Act amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require those seeking to vote in federal elections to provide \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship.\u201d Examples of \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship\u201d include \u201ca 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\u201d and \u201ca valid United States passport.\u201d<\/p>\n

An \u201cofficial United States military identification card, together with a United States military record of service showing that the applicant\u2019s place of birth was in the United States\u201d as well as a \u201cvalid government-issued photo identification card issued by a Federal, State, or Tribal government showing that the applicant\u2019s place of birth was in the United States\u201d also meet the requirements of the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n

Additional forms of photo identification issued by a federal, state or tribal government are also accepted as long as they are accompanied by a complete birth certificate that includes the full name, date of birth and place of birth of the applicant as well as the name of at least one of the applicant\u2019s parents or a \u201chospital Record of Birth\u201d showing that the applicant was born in the U.S. or \u201ca final adoption decree showing the applicant\u2019s name and that the applicant\u2019s place of birth was in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo identifications that don’t explicitly include a documentary proof of citizenship can also be accompanied by a \u201cconsular report of birth abroad of a citizen of the United States or a certification of the applicant\u2019s Report of Birth of a United States citizen issued by the Secretary of State\u201d or a naturalization certificate or a certificate of citizenship presented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or an American Indian Card issued by the DHS with the classification \u201cKIC.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. What Happens to Those Without Required Documentation?<\/h2>\n

The legislation authorizes states to allow those who do not provide documentary proof of citizenship to sign an attestation under the penalty of perjury that they are a U.S. citizen and submit \u201cother evidence\u201d to a state or local official demonstrating that the applicant is a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n

The state or local official is given the authority to determine whether the \u201cother evidence\u201d is sufficient to identify proof of citizenship as required by federal law, and must sign an affidavit swearing or affirming that the applicant met the requirements of the law.<\/p>\n

The law would task the Election Assistance Commission with creating a \u201cuniform affidavit\u201d that would \u201cinclude an explanation of the minimum standards required for a State or local official to register an applicant who cannot provide documentary proof of United States citizenship to vote in elections for Federal office in the State\u201d and \u2018\u2018require the official to explain the basis for registering such applicant to vote in such elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Additional Requirements Imposed on States<\/h2>\n

In addition to requiring \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship\u201d for voting, the legislation would prohibit states from accepting voter registration applications unless the applicant provides \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship.\u201d The bill also requires applicants who fill out the mail voter registration application form to present \u201cdocumentary proof of United States citizenship in person\u201d to the appropriate election official.<\/p>\n

To ensure that only citizens are registered to vote in federal elections, states are required to identify non-citizens on their voter rolls by using one or more sources including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, the Social Security Administration\u2019s Social Security Number Verification Service or \u201cstate agencies that supply State identification cards or driver\u2019s licenses where the agency confirms the United States citizenship status of applicants.\u201d<\/p>\n

States would have 30 days after enactment of the legislation to establish a program to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote. States are also required to remove individuals from voter rolls if they receive information that they are not citizens.<\/p>\n

5. Consequences For Failure to Abide By the Law<\/h2>\n

The legislation would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to provide a private right of action against \u201can election official who registers an applicant to vote in an election for Federal office who fails to present documentary proof of United States citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone alleging a violation of the new law must provide \u201cwritten notice of the violation to the chief election official of the State involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislation would impose criminal penalties on any officer of the executive branch who provides \u201cmaterial assistance to a noncitizen in attempting to register to vote or vote in an election for Federal office\u201d or anyone who registers \u201can applicant to vote in an election for Federal office who fails to present documentary proof of United States citizenship\u201d in the form of fines and\/or a prison term of five years or less.<\/p>\n

As for noncitizens who register to vote, the legislation would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct an investigation to determine whether to initiate removal proceedings against illegal immigrants who are illegally registered to vote.<\/p>\n

This article was written by Ryan Foley and originally appeared on The Christian Post<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the\u00a0SAVE America Act\u00a0in a\u00a0218-213 vote\u00a0on Feb. 11. The vote fell largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting in favor of the bill and all Democrats voting against it. The legislation, which would amend federal law to require \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship” to vote, now awaits…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":630,"featured_media":31051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Things to Know About the SAVE America Act<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The SAVE America Act, which would amend federal law to require \u201cdocumentary proof of citizenship" to vote, now awaits a vote in the Senate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=31045\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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