The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act has passed the House on Feb. 11 and is is in the Senate for its vote. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, introduced the bill in January of 2025; the Act’s purported purpose was to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. There is much controversy about the Act, most along party lines, with the Democrats opposing the legislation. Opponents argue that although the Act is supposed to ensure and strengthen election integrity, it leads to voter discrimination.

The actual existence of immigrant voting is miniscule. “Noncitizens are not a large threat to our election system currently,” said David Becker, on July 30, 2025. Becker is the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), which conducted the research on the issue. “Even states that are looking everywhere to try to amplify the numbers of noncitizens, when they actually look, they find a surprisingly, shockingly small number.”

For example, following an ongoing investigation, the Secretary of State in Louisiana found 390 non-citizens on the voter rolls. This number represents .01 percent of the 2.9 million registered voters. In Utah, the election office stated that they found no cases whatsoever even after months of investigating.

What does the Act require? In order to register to vote, citizens must show their birth certificate, or their naturalization certificate along with their government issued photo ID. Other acceptable forms of identification include a U.S. Passport, a valid military ID and certain forms of tribal identification. Moreover, these documents must be presented in person creating an immense impediment to individuals who lack transportation to their voter registration locations.

Opponents of the Act state that it unfairly discriminates against a large percentage of U.S. citizens, including low-income people and people of color. For example, only 34% of Black Americans have a passport versus 42% of White Americans. And the cost of the required documents, which range from $10 to $1,000, represents an insurmountable obstacle for many low-income Americans.

Sen. Chuck Schumer has called the Save Act “Jim Crow 2.0.” The NAACP has this to say about it: “The SAVE Act is nothing more than voter suppression disguised as voter protection. The burdensome requirements disproportionately target voters in historically marginalized communities, amplify systemic inequalities, and aim to silence millions.”

Cornell William Brooks, a former president of NAACP and a trial attorney, notes that in certain Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) there is clear voter suppression. For example, in Texas the bus route between the college campus and the polling place has been eliminated.

Another group that potentially would be disenfranchised are women who changed their names when they married. This means that their legal name differs from the name on their birth certificate. According to a post by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that group includes 70 million women. AOC utilized data from the Center for American Progress for these numbers.

In summary, The Save Act is solving a problem that does not exist. Analyzing a large data base, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU found that fraud of any kind, including noncitizen voting, is extremely rare in the U.S.; the best estimate is between 0.0003% and 0.0025% of all ballots cast. Even the conservative Heritage Foundation, analyzing its own U.S. database, found only 33 cases of proven voter fraud per year, between 1979-2023 — a tiny fraction of votes cast over those 45 years.

What can you do right now to block this bill in the Senate? Call Senators Elizabeth Warren (617) 565-3170 and Ed Markey (617)565-8519, asking them to do everything in their power to stop its passage.

Lillian K. Cartwright lives in Easthampton.