House Republicans just pushed forward the SAVE Act—a bill that would add new restrictions to voting—on a mostly party-line vote. And after years of legal rollbacks to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, plus a wave of contested state voting laws and redistricting battles, many Black leaders say this latest move only makes it harder for people to cast a ballot.
“Let’s be real—it’s a straight-up voter suppression bill,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) posted on X shortly before the House approved the bill 220-208, with just four Democrats crossing the aisle. “They are literally trying to make it harder for millions of Americans to exercise their right to vote. I’m voting NO—hell no, actually.”
The SAVE Act would require people to show physical proof of U.S. citizenship—like a passport or birth certificate—when registering to vote in person, even though it’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.
The bill doesn’t stop there. It would also nearly eliminate mail-in voter registration, end automatic registration at DMVs, and force states to scrub non-citizens from voter rolls. It would even make it a criminal offense for election workers to register someone without documented proof of citizenship.
A breakdown by the Center for American Progress warns that requiring passports or birth certificates would especially burden women who’ve changed their names after marriage and people from low-income backgrounds who don’t have easy access to those documents.
Critics across the board are speaking out.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson didn’t hold back, saying, “Instead of lowering costs like he promised, Donald Trump and his MAGA crew are focused on gutting our democracy.” He called voting “the foundation of our democracy” and warned that the bill targets communities that are already vulnerable.
“This bill is nothing more than voter suppression disguised as voter protection,” Johnson added. “It piles on unnecessary barriers that hit historically marginalized communities the hardest.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) also called out the bill’s impact on disabled Americans, married women, and others who face extra hurdles just to register. “This isn’t about election integrity,” she said in a video. “It’s about choosing who can vote and who can’t.”
Maya Wiley, CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, agreed. “This bill does nothing to protect our elections. Instead, it creates discriminatory obstacles that will disenfranchise millions—especially voters of color, young people, women, low-income families, and rural communities.”
Beth Lynk, executive director of When We All Vote—a nonpartisan group founded by Michelle Obama—said the SAVE Act completely undermines the kind of work her organization is built on: helping people register to vote.
“More than 90 million Americans didn’t vote in 2024,” she said. “Lawmakers should be making it easier to vote, not harder. Last year, When We All Vote helped over 300,000 Americans register or check their registration. That’s exactly the kind of access this bill is trying to strip away.”
And Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), who represents Selma—the birthplace of the Voting Rights Act—called out her Republican colleagues directly on the House floor.
“This bill is not about protecting our elections. It’s about making it harder for Americans to vote and easier for Republicans to win,” she said. “The SAVE Act is just the latest attack on our democracy by Trump and his allies. Instead of helping the American people, they’re spreading fear to justify their push to silence millions of eligible voters.”
