House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has introduced several amendments to a piece of election legislation that would make it a requirement for all voters to present a photo identification in order to cast their ballot, a move that would ensure that illegal aliens are prevented from participating in American elections. The amendments would be made to the Safeguard the American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE), which was passed by the House in April 2025.
Unfortunately, the bill has stalled in the Senate. If the SAVE Act were to be passed into law, it would require voters in all states to provide in-person proof of their U.S. citizenship, including a passport or birth certificate, before they could be registered to vote. It also directs states to identify and remove all noncitizens from existing voter rolls.
The bill is part of a broader effort by Republicans to make sure that only citizens are voting in federal elections. The SAVE Act came hot on the heels of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March 2025 that directed federal agencies to enforce the citizenship requirement for casting ballots in all federal elections. The executive order also requires the Election Assistance Commission to update mail-in voter registration forms to include proof of U.S. citizenship such as passports, REAL-ID-compliant IDs, military IDs, or government-issued IDs with citizenship verification.
According to Newsweek, Scalise has presented the idea of amending the SAVE Act to include requiring the presentation of a photo ID when people go to the polls to cast their ballots. During an interview with Fox News’ program, The Big Weekend Show, Scalise said, “What we’re looking at doing is passing an even better bill over to the Senate to give them even more incentive to go protect the sanctity of every American’s vote, and that is the SAVE Act Plus.”
“Look, you can’t even get on an airplane. You can’t go to a bar tonight without showing a picture ID. Yet there are people in many states where the states actually have laws saying you can’t show ID, which is a recipe for fraud,” the congressman continued. As it stands now, voter identification requirements vary state by state. Some states require a photo ID like a driver’s license, state ID, or passport, while others will accept non-photo documentation such as a birth certificate or Social Security card.
While voters aren’t required to produce their voter registration cards, it can, in some places, be used as identification. In many areas, voters who do not have the requested ID can still vote by signing a form affirming their identity. “I think a lot of Americans would like that protection because if they’re following the rules, they just want everybody else to. What makes people angry is when you see boxes of ballots showing up two weeks after an election, and the next thing you know, lo and behold, a Democrat takes the lead after being behind for three weeks after Election Day,” Scalise noted.
"*" indicates required fields
In March 2025, House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with several other GOP lawmakers, put out a statement encouraging Congress to pass the legislation. “American citizens—and only American citizens—should decide American elections,” and that it “puts in place common sense safeguards to prevent noncitizens from abusing our democratic process.”
Unsurprisingly, left-wing organizations such as the Center for American Progress (CAP) have come out against the SAVE Act, saying the bill would “invert the responsibility to verify a person’s eligibility and citizenship status from election officials and the government onto every single American citizen, making citizens convince the government that they’re eligible to exercise their right to vote.”
Another organization, the League of Conservation Voters, says the SAVE Act would put in place a number of significant barriers for many voters. One of the barriers the group is concerned about is that it would require individuals to appear in person for simple updates such as a change of address or party affiliation. They claim this would cause problems for members of the military, those who are affiliated with tribes, and rural voters who live long distances from polling locations.
A second concern for the LCV is the impact the legislation would allegedly have on low-income voters, as only one-in-five Americans earning under $50,000 have a valid passport. The CAP also stated there is a concern for how the bill will affect married women, stating that “as many as 69 million American women do not have a birth certificate with their legal name on it and thereby could not use their birth certificate to prove citizenship” if they don’t have a current passport.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video