What is the SAVE Act? How this new bill could make it harder for you to vote

A new bill introduced in Congress last month aims to require proof of citizenship to register to vote—which could make an already-complicated registration process harder for millions of Americans.

On January 3, Republican representative Chip Roy reintroduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to Congress to “ensure that our elections and our sovereignty cannot be hijacked and influenced by foreign nationals who have no business voting in this country.”

The SAVE Act would require voters to present physical documentary proof of citizenship to register or reregister to vote. This means passports, birth certificates, or special driver’s licenses that include proof of citizenship—either REAL ID or an “Enhanced Driver License” that includes an American flag to show its holder’s citizenship.

But by introducing additional barriers to vote, this legislation could incidentally disenfranchise millions of young voters, voters of color and married women, according to ananalysis published by the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice.

Why do people oppose the SAVE Act?

After the 2016 election, President Trump stoked fears about noncitizen voting by falsely claiming that 3 million-to-5 million noncitizens voted in the election, but instances of this occurring are “vanishingly rare,” according to the Brennan Center. Noncitizen voting is already illegal in all 50 states.

While the new requirements could ultimately bar noncitizen registration—which experts say only happens to an “infinitesimal” degree—they could also complicate or even block registration for millions of Americans who may not possess the required documents.

Last year, the Brennan Center found that 21 million Americans don’t have proof of citizenship readily available. The Enhanced Driver Licenses—which show proof of citizenship on the card—are only available in five states. And almost half of Americans don’t even own a passport.

Younger voters and voters of color are less likely to have access to these required documents than others, according to the Brennan Center’s analysis. The nonprofit also wrote that the SAVE Act would “functionally eliminate” mail-in voting registration because it requires voters to produce documentation “in person” to an election official.

This bill may also disproportionately block married women from voting: As many as 69 million married women don’t possess a birth certificate that matches their legal name, according to the Center for American Progress.

The bill passed the House once in July, and with its reintroduction, it will likely see the floor again soon. But to be passed into law, the bill would need to overcome a potential Senate filibuster—which would require unlikely support from seven Democrats.