“Boggles the Mind”: House Advances Bill Requiring Passports to Register to Vote
WASHINGTON — Today, the House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 22, or the SAVE Act) that will inject chaos into our elections and block millions of eligible American citizens from voting. If implemented, Americans would be required to produce a passport or other documents proving their citizenship to register or re-register (such as after a move) to vote. The bill comes on the heels of President Trump’s executive order on elections and an explosion of related state legislation this year: 22 states have considered similar mandates this legislative session, up from 14 last year and seven in 2023.
Samantha Tarazi, Voting Rights Lab Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, issued the following statement in response:
“At a time when our country is reeling from self-inflicted economic instability, it boggles the mind that this Congress is prioritizing a bill that creates more bureaucratic red tape by mandating citizens obtain an expensive passport to vote. If passed, this bill would create a bureaucratic nightmare for American citizens and our local election officials.
“Americans know well that strong checks and balances exist to ensure that only eligible citizens vote in state and federal elections — it’s one reason why the 2024 election was so trusted in spite of months of divisive and disproven fear-mongering on this very subject.”
Key Facts
- A rigorous set of checks and balances exist in every state to ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal and statewide elections. When registering or when someone votes for the first time, Americans generally must provide either a Social Security number or an official state ID like a driver’s license, which election officials can use to confirm their citizenship status. This has been federal law for over 20 years.
- Millions upon millions of voting-eligible U.S. citizens do not have ready access to the types of documents they would need to prove their citizenship status if H.R. 22 is enacted. More than 132 million U.S. citizens do not have a current passport, and nearly 70 million women do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.
- Research shows states where President Trump performed best in 2024 have the lowest number of citizens with valid passports, while Democratic-leaning states tend to have the highest number of U.S. citizens with valid passports.
- Every state which has tried to implement a documentary proof of citizenship mandate has encountered administrative chaos, costly litigation, and significant disenfranchisement of eligible U.S. citizens. For example, Kansas briefly had a state law requiring new voter registrants to provide documentary proof of citizenship, and one in eight eligible U.S. citizens who attempted to register to vote over a three year period were erroneously blocked. Consequently, a federal court stopped implementation of the law, finding it violated the U.S. constitution and federal law.
Voting Rights Lab is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings state policy and legislative expertise to the fight for voting rights. We work in partnership with organizations across the country to secure, protect, and defend the voting rights of all Americans. And we track voting laws and legislation in all 50 states at tracker.votingrightslab.org.