![\"WASHINGTON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2261152568-GI.JPG\" "\\"U.S.")
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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks about the passage of the SAVE America Act, an election bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and require photo identification at the ballot box. The SAVE America Act and a California initiative add burdensome ID rules that would disenfranchise millions, especially married women.<\/p>\n
Michael M. Santiago<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Two legislative actions threaten the right to vote of millions of Americans: One the Senate is considering at the federal level, and another that\u2019s likely to qualify for the California general election.<\/p>\n
Under the guise of voter identification, both proposals claim to combat voter fraud \u2014 a statistically minor occurrence. These proposals are designed to bully and frustrate voters by erecting unnecessary barriers to voting, ultimately preventing many from casting their ballots.<\/p>\n
In an attempt to solve a problem that doesn\u2019t exist, the initiatives duplicate existing law and add restrictions that will unnecessarily complicate both our registration and voting procedures.<\/p>\n
SAVE Act would disenfranchise voters<\/p>\n
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act requires that only U.S. citizens be eligible to register and legally vote. But this is already established law. The SAVE America Act would, however, impose extra unnecessary and arbitrary steps for millions of Americans to meet the documentation requirements outlined in the legislation.<\/p>\n
The burden of those redundant conditions will fall upon specific groups of voters: married women or anyone who has changed their last name, and the millions who lack ready access to a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers.<\/p>\n
To meet the SAVE America Act citizenship requirements, a voter\u2019s last name must match the last name on their birth certificate. About 80% of American women change their names after marriage,<\/a> necessitating additional proof of citizenship, such as a passport. But a passport is not free, and 52% of registered voters do not have one<\/a>.<\/p>\n Requiring this citizenship documentation constitutes a poll tax, which was banned by the 24th Constitutional Amendment and found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court.<\/p>\n According to the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement<\/a>, 34.5 million Americans lack a driver\u2019s license or state-issued ID card. The Brennan Center<\/a> reports that 21 million Americans lack ready access to citizenship identification, with 3.8 million missing documents due to loss, destruction or theft.<\/p>\n Recent polling suggests that more than 80% of Americans support government-issued IDs to vote. It is unclear, however, if many of those who hold this position realize that identification verification is already required when registering to vote and that voter signatures are certified when voting by mail or at the polls.<\/p>\n