03-18-26​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

SAVE Act Silences Eligible Voices at the Ballot Box!
 

On February 11, 2026, the House of Representatives took a Senate-passed bipartisan veterans bill, stripped its content, and used it as a vehicle to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act by a vote of 218 to 213. Senate Majority Leader Thune has announced that the Senate will take up the SAVE Act this week.

The SAVE Act would require people to show documents like a passport or birth certificate to register to vote or update their registration, which an estimated 21 million eligible voters do not have easy access to, putting their freedom to vote at risk.

These new requirements would disproportionately impact working-class and lower-income Americans, including rural voters, naturalized citizens, and young voters. Many would face additional costs, paperwork barriers, or delays that could prevent them from registering or staying registered.

• Communities of color are especially impacted due to longstanding barriers to accessing official records, including historical gaps in birth registration, higher costs to replace documents, and limited access to government offices. These barriers are the result of systemic inequities, not individual choices.

• Requirements under the SAVE Act would disproportionately impact women, particularly those who have changed their names due to marriage or divorce, as mismatched documents, added costs, time off work, and bureaucratic hurdles to update records could prevent eligible voters from registering or casting a ballot.

• Retirees and seniors would be disproportionately impacted, as many may lack access to original citizenship documents and face barriers such as mobility challenges, medical conditions, transportation issues, and the difficulty of obtaining or replacing paperwork.

USW believes that every election should be secure and every eligible voter deserves a fair and equal voice at the ballot box. However, the SAVE Act would create unnecessary barriers that could silence millions of working people and weaken our democracy.

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Later this week, Rapid Response will call on USW members to take action by urging their U.S. Senators to oppose the SAVE Act.

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Click HERE for a printable version.