The Trump-backed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act represents a new attempt by the administration to consolidate sensitive voter data into federal hands, a move election rights advocates argue could overstep constitutional boundaries.
The legislation, referred to by Republicans as the SAVE America Act, requires voters to present identification at the ballot box and provide proof of citizenship during registration. It would mandate that states obtain personal information from sources such as the Social Security Administration, state identification cards, and other government agencies to confirm citizenship and identify potential non-citizen voters.
This effort follows a series of previous attempts by the administration to collect voter information. Previous executive orders and requests from the Department of Justice for state voter registration lists, which included sensitive data like dates of birth and Social Security numbers, faced significant legal challenges and privacy concerns, resulting in lawsuits from numerous states and privacy advocacy groups. Many of these attempts were blocked or restricted by courts.
Supporters argue that such measures are necessary to ensure the integrity of elections and prevent fraud. A White House spokesperson stated that President Trump is "committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters."
However, voting rights groups and some former government officials contend that consolidating election administration power within the executive branch contradicts the founders' intent, who enshrined states' responsibility for administering elections in the Constitution. They argue that attempts to create a national citizenship registry, even using sources like the Social Security Administration, are prone to errors and could disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly naturalized citizens.
Kathleen Romig, a former senior adviser at the Social Security Administration, noted that while Social Security numbers are common, they do not constitute a definitive registry of citizenship. She also raised concerns about the accuracy of data compiled from disparate sources, stating that citizenship information can become outdated and that systems may not reflect recent naturalizations.
Johnathan Diaz, Director of Voting Advocacy at the Campaign Legal Center, explained that while Congress has the power to legislate changes to election processes, direct executive action has proven legally vulnerable. He warned that if the administration gains the power to determine who is sufficiently American to register to vote, it could significantly shape the electorate. Diaz pointed to past state-level attempts to use agency data for voter verification that resulted in thousands of eligible voters being wrongly flagged or removed from rolls.
The SAVE Act, if passed by Congress, would represent a fundamental shift in how elections are administered in the United States, moving away from state-level control and towards a more centralized federal oversight of voter eligibility. Concerns remain about the potential for data misuse and the impact on voter access and privacy.