It’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.  So why has the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act created such a controversy? What’s the difference between the SAVE Act and protections already in place?

Opponents of the SAVE Act argue that it will suppress the votes of women and make it harder for poor people to vote.

Under current law, those who register to vote must provide proof of identity (usually a driver’s license) and residence. They must “self-affirm” their citizenship under penalty of perjury.

The SAVE Act would require Americans to provide Documentary Proof of Citizenship (DPOC) when registering to vote or updating voter registration due to a change of address, change of party affiliation or name change.

This means a driver’s license or state ID card – even one with the REAL ID star – would not be sufficient, since REAL ID does not indicate citizenship and REAL ID driver’s licenses, and ID cards are available to legal residents who are not citizens.

How then to prove citizenship? A passport will work. But many Americans have never obtained a passport because they didn’t plan to leave the country. Also, passports aren’t free, and it takes time to apply for one.

 Most Americans can start with their certified birth certificate. Older folks may discover the birth certificates provided by the hospital – the kind adorned with tiny baby footprints – may not qualify. Others may have lost their birth certificate in a move – or a fire or a hurricane – or due to simple forgetfulness.

You can obtain a certified birth certificate from the state where you were born, but it’s not free. Fees range from $9 to $34. If you need it in a hurry, you can pay an additional “rush” fee up to $40.

If your birth certificate doesn’t match your current name, you’ll need more official paperwork such as marriage licenses, divorce decrees and court documents verifying an official name change. All must be official notarized documents and there are fees for replacements if you don’t have the originals. It also takes time to gather these documents. If a woman has been married and divorced and remarried, this can be a lot of documents.  She must also make sure the name on her Social Security Card matches her current name. That might require a trip to a Social Security Office with all the required paperwork. And if you live in a rural area, that could mean you have to take a day off work to travel to a Social Security office in a larger city.

The good news: Women who have gone through the REAL ID process have already gathered these documents.

The bad news: According to the Department of Homeland Security, as of January 2024, only about 56% of driver’s licenses and ID cards issued in the United States are REAL ID compliant. In 2025, you must have a passport or REAL ID to travel on a commercial airplane in the United States. But many people have no plans – or the money – to fly.

Under existing federal law, it is illegal for noncitizens to vote in elections for president or a member of Congress. Violators could be fined, imprisoned or deported.  It would also mean they would never qualify for citizenship.

According to a Brennan Center for Justice study, “Every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is vanishingly rare.” A 2016 study of 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 general election that oversaw 23.5 million votes found only 30 “suspected” noncitizen voting incidents for further investigation. The CATO Institute also found “noncitizens don’t illegally vote in detectable numbers.”

In a July 9 letter to Congress, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights states: “Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. Every single state bans noncitizens from voting in state elections. These protections have proven very effective, given that there is simply no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in elections. Indeed, it defies logic that non-U.S. citizens would risk their immigration status, the potential of criminal prosecution, future opportunity for naturalization, and freedom for themselves and their families by unlawfully committing an affirmative act to vote in an election in which they are prohibited from participating. The penalties for registering or voting as a non-U.S. citizen include imprisonment or deportation. The risks for any non-U.S. citizen to vote in a federal election are serious and steep, and our laws already effectively prevent significant unlawful voter registration and voting.”

The letter is co-signed by 147 organizations including HeadCount, the League of Women Voters, NAACP, National Organization for Women and the National Urban League.

Some states allow non-citizens to vote in certain local  city and school board elections.  However, reports from these states show that even in elections in which it is legal for non-citizens to vote in local elections, few do. According to reports from Vermont, where three cities now allow non-citizen legal residents to vote in local elections, few participate. Some noncitizens who are legal residents are concerned it could negatively affect their U.S. citizenship application in the future. Others do not want their names on a non-citizen list that would be available via a public records request. Even if they are in the country legally, many non-citizens fear they could be deported.