As Republicans on Capitol Hill look to pass a restrictive voter ID law—which would disproportionately harm women—state-level lawmakers must step in with new voting rights protections.
In 2024, over 150 million people voted in the presidential election. A plurality of these voters were women, thousands of them voting for the first time.
Barely six months into the new administration, President Trump and his allies are advancing a bill that will fundamentally change our elections and make it harder for millions of women to register, vote and participate in our democracy. The deceptively named SAVE Act represents the latest and most dangerous threat of election denialism to date.
If passed, it will create new and deliberate barriers for rural communities, senior citizens and women everywhere.
Senators must reject this bill when it faces a vote, and they must resist the political pressures and coordinated misinformation campaigns from the White House to pass it or, worse, sneak it through by stealth.
After all, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act is completely redundant of existing laws. What supporters of this legislation will not tell you is that it is already illegal for non-U.S. citizens to vote in presidential and congressional elections. In fact, it is a serious federal crime, and has been since 1996, with punishment by jail.
Proponents of the SAVE Act would have us believe that anyone can walk into a polling station and cast a vote without being identified at all. This could not be further from the truth. Anyone who voted in November could tell you this.
SAVE Act supporters allege mass fraud in our elections, votes under the names of dead people and party activists voting multiple times. This, too, is false.
In 2020, during the height of the “Stop the Steal” conspiracy, the Associated Press found only 475 cases of fraud across all six of the closest swing states. These votes make up just 0.15 percent of President Biden’s margin of victory—far too small to have any discernible impact.
If passed, the SAVE Act will force voters to register in person with proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate. The in-person registration requirement, which ends people’s ability to register online, would create an especially difficult hurdle for the millions of mothers and working women with full-time jobs or childcare responsibilities. Additionally, this would mean that if you showed up to vote with your driver’s license, as many people typically do, you’ll be turned away.
Perhaps the most infamous provision of the bill is its potential impact on married women. If passed, the SAVE Act would block married women whose names don’t match their birth certificates from voting if they are not able to meet the additional, cumbersome records-requirement to prove who they are.
In short, our Congress has given in to election denialism and has opted to spend their time solving phantom problems with out-of-touch (and outright harmful) solutions. The result, if passed, could set women voters back a generation.
Women voters are not monolithic. However, if Congress continues to advance policies like the SAVE Act that hinder our basic right to vote, women voters will remember and cast votes against the politicians who legislate at our expense. If Congress won’t protect us, we must protect ourselves.
Common Cause is working with state organizations across America to champion and introduce state-level voting rights acts in Colorado, Florida and Maryland to protect voters’ right to the ballot. These state versions of the VRA ensure no voter can be discriminated against, regardless of background, political affiliation or income level.
If passed, the state legislation would create a more equitable democracy by setting fair standards for equal access to the ballot; requiring stronger protections for and including more communities that face barriers to voting, such as Black Americans; and creating sensible standards for elected officials to ensure equal rates of participation across communities.
That’s why, since 2002, eight states have enacted their own versions of the Voting Rights Act: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.
As Coretta Scott King said, “The fight for civil rights must be fought and won with each generation.” Where Congress fails to continue that work, states will lead the way to a future where voting is fair and accessible to us all.
