The SAVE Act: A Sneaky Threat to Our Democracy

Peace Action’s Trump Watch campaign is focusing on some of the most immediate threats posed by the Trump administration. This includes Trump and Musk’s freezes on humanitarian funding, the Trump plan to “own” Gaza while cutting off humanitarian aid for Gaza’s current residents, and administration plans to beef up the nuclear weapons complex. We’re also joining with other organizations to mobilize against Trump’s sharp authoritarian turn by pressuring Congress to block business as usual. 

But today in Peace Action’s Groundswell Blog, let’s talk about something that might not be on everyone’s radar but is crucial for our democracy: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This legislation, recently introduced in Congress, could spell trouble for voting rights. This potentially solidifies Trump’s power even as he continues with authoritarian moves unpopular with voters.

A Road Map for Voter Disenfranchisement

The SAVE Act imposes burdensome documentation requirements for voter registration, such as proof of citizenship through passports or birth certificates, which millions of Americans lack, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups like low-income individuals, women, and young voters. It also mandates frequent voter purges, disrupts mail and online registration systems, and threatens election workers with criminal penalties, creating unnecessary barriers to voting while addressing a virtually nonexistent issue of non-citizen voting. 

Did you know that approximately 146 million Americans don’t have a passport? And let’s not forget about women who’ve changed their last names due to marriage—around 69 million of them might find themselves in a bit of a pickle trying to match their birth certificates with their current names.

Who Gets Hit the Hardest?

This act doesn’t just affect everyone equally; it disproportionately targets certain groups:

• Voters of Color: About 11% of Americans of color lack easy access to citizenship documents, compared to 8% of white Americans. That’s a lot of voters.
• Women with Name Changes: Millions of married women could face extra hurdles because their documents don’t match their current legal names.
• Young Voters: First-time voters often rely on third-party registration drives, which would be severely hampered by these new requirements.
• Rural and Low-Income Voters: Those living in remote areas or with limited transportation options might struggle to present necessary documents in person.

New Barriers to Voter Registration

The SAVE Act would throw up some serious roadblocks when it comes to voter registration:

1. In-Person Document Presentation: You’d need to show up in person with original documentation just to register or update your info. 
2. Bye-Bye Online and Mail-In Registration: This effectively wipes out convenient registration methods that many people rely on. These solutions were a great way to empower the grassroots and get people into the political process.
3. Criminalizing Election Workers: The act imposes harsh penalties on election workers for any mistakes in voter registration. 

Tough Lessons from State-Level Laws

We’ve seen similar laws at the state level. Take Kansas, for example, where a proof-of-citizenship requirement blocked over 31,000 otherwise eligible voters from registering. Guess who felt the brunt of that? You got it—people of color, students, low income voters, and the elderly.

The Bottom Line

So there you have it—the SAVE Act may be portrayed as a noble effort for “election integrity,” but it’s really just a fancy way of saying “let’s make it harder for people to vote so that we can stay in power even with low poll numbers.” Given what Trump is doing to violate constitutional checks and balances, and his plummeting poll numbers, this is part of the plan to consolidate authoritarian power without having to face the full electorate. Democrats in Congress, if they hold the line with their shakier Senators, could have the votes to block this in the Senate with a filibuster. But we have to educate ourselves about this bill and shine a light on it to prevent any of its provisions from slipping into law. 

For more information on the SAVE Act and its potential impacts, check out these resources:

1. Ms. Magazine – The SAVE Act Is Voter Suppression Disguised as Election Integrity
2. Democrats Abroad – Stop the SAVE Act
3. Campaign Legal Center – Fact Sheet: The SAVE Act Threatens All Voters

While we fight Trump on issues like Gaza; humanitarian aid; and Trump’s attempts to grow the nuclear weapons arsenal, rearm ICBMs, and even potentially restart explosive nuclear testing, we also need to stay informed and keep fighting for our right to vote— without democracy peace action becomes much harder!