The SAVE America Act is a piece of legislation to reform federal voting processes, though some argue it centralizes voting power to the federal government. Organizations across Minnesota oppose the act for its disruption of voting standards. 

A version of the act was proposed in 2025 as the SAVE Act, but was shot down by the United States House of Representatives. The newly proposed legislation, the SAVE America Act, expanded on the SAVE Act. 

If the SAVE America Act is passed, it would play an important role in the upcoming midterm elections. 

The legislation aims to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, which in voter verification cases only made up 0.04% of investigated votes in the 2024 election. It requires further proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport, which 9% of Americans do not have quick access to. 

“Is it the step up in the innovation around making sure that this country truly reflects the will of the people and the people that are in power?” Common Cause Minnesota Executive Director Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera said. “Or is it about keeping this curtain of secrecy, and unilaterally centered power for whoever is in these seats to be able to, without question, hand-pick and decide who is worthy of being recognized within that process?”

146 million citizens do not possess a valid passport. To obtain a passport book, not including the card, it costs $130 plus a $35 facility acceptance fee. 153 million Americans voted in the 2024 presidential election, which makes a difference of six million people. 

Aside from impacting nearly 47% of Americans without a passport, it could further affect the ability of married women to vote. The act requires the same name presented on their documentation to be their legal name. 

69 million women who took their spouse’s last name do not have a birth certificate that matches their legal name, which creates additional barriers for married women in the voting process. 

“The Save Act is one of the biggest threats to the 2026 election by creating a lot of voter disenfranchisement,” League of Women Voters President Rebecca Thoman said. “There are several different versions of the Save Act out there, but the common thread through all three of them is that in order to register to vote or to update your registration, you have to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person.”

On top of these barriers, if a person registers to vote by mail, they would be required to show their proof of citizenship in person. This could pose a problem for house-bound voters. 

Transgender people would also be affected. Outfront Minnesota Executive Director Kat Rohn described the experience of voting as a transgender woman under the current process.

“If the document that we produce doesn’t seem to match how somebody perceives us, we can be questioned for whether or not we should be eligible to vote,” Rohn said. 

The SAVE America Act could further affect these processes. 

“Many of us were not born in states that have now prohibited our ability to make changes to things like these birth certificates,” Rohn said. “The ability to align documents is not tenable, and so we are being forcibly excluded.” 

Minnesota allows individuals to change their name on their birth certificate, charging $40 for an amendment fee and $26 for a new paper certificate. States vary in their laws to enact name changes on birth certificates, especially related to transgender individuals. 

To register to vote in Minnesota, a driver’s license or Minnesota identification card number, the last four digits of an individual’s social security number and an email address are required. The SAVE America Act could be an overhaul of these systems. 

These changes would require the establishment of an alternative process to prove citizenship, the collection of proof of U.S. citizenship, educating the public on valid forms of ID and updating registration and voting steps to abide by the law. 

“The SAVE Act would cause unprecedented chaos in the U.S. election system – preventing millions of Americans from voting, slowing or stopping work in elections offices, and threatening election workers with criminal prosecution,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement regarding the original proposed legislation. 

The act puts the responsibility on the voter to prove their citizenship. Other verification systems could be emplaced, which would put the responsibility on the government through pre-existing data. 

Belladonna-Carrera said that this is not the way to reform voter systems, other ways should be considered.  

“If we’re going to do this, then let’s do this and have it be responsive to the actual need,” Belladonna-Carrera said. “Not because someone doesn’t like who’s casting a ballot and more importantly, because someone doesn’t like who that person is casting a ballot for.”

The SAVE America Act seeks to centralize federal elections, having direct control of voting processes across all states. 

“Framework of our conversations nationally around elections and integrity and voting is so much about trying to create control in the process, rather than thinking about how we can get more folks engaged and involved in the actual practice of democracy, not just voting, but getting people involved in the process of shared governance is the heart of democracy,” Rohn said.

Correction: A previous version of the article incorrectly stated 0.04% of votes in the 2024 election were cast by nonvoters. This is incorrect – only 0.04% of investigated cases registered as noncitizens.