Democrats, community leaders challenge the SAVE America Act

Nevada Democrats and local organizations call the measure unnecessary, voter suppression, and a White House ploy to control elections.

Republicans are floating multiple bills in Congress to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which would require proof of US citizenship to register to vote. Such a move has the potential to disenfranchise millions from voting in federal elections. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act, was passed in the House last spring with four Democrats backing the proposal. 

Now President Donald Trump is urging Congress to approve another iteration of the bill—the SAVE America Act—which passed the House this week with a 218-213 vote, and the support of one Texas Democrat, NBC News reports. The measure would not only require those who participate in federal elections to show proof of citizenship and photo identification, but it would also direct state and local jurisdictions to regularly share voter rolls with the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans promote the act as a measure that ensures noncitizens are barred from voting, which rarely happens regardless, CBS News reports. The amendment has drawn pushback from top Nevada Democrats and local organizations, who call the measure unnecessary and a White House ploy to control elections. 

“This just feels like smoke and mirrors and a method in which he can use to manipulate the 2026 election,” Quentin Savwoir, president of the NAACP Las Vegas, said of Trump in an interview with The Nevadan-El Nevadense.

Trump’s desire to overhaul federal elections isn’t new. His March 2025 executive order seeking similar changes to voting standards was halted by litigation because, under the Constitution, such a change can only be made by Congress.

Leo Murrieta, Make the Road Nevada executive director, calls the act a relic from the past, likening it to Jim Crow laws during segregation that institutionalized discrimination against Black Americans.

“The SAVE Act is voter suppression, plain and simple. It is a deliberate effort by the Republican Party to make registering to vote and voting harder for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income Americans,” he said. “Echoing Jim Crow–era tactics to block eligible voters from the ballot is not just shameful, it is an assault on our democracy. This has no place in Nevada or anywhere in our country.”

White House pressure to pass the SAVE America Act comes as Trump’s favorability ratings steadily decline across major parties, according to a Gallup poll. His approval number recently plummeted to its lowest level this term—36%—while his disapproval rating jumped to 60%. 

Despite the absence of widespread election fraud nationwide, 83% of voters support voter ID legislation, according to CBS News. Similarly, Nevadans backed a 2024 ballot initiative to enshrine voter ID requirements in the state constitution—measures that received 72% support, compared with 28% no votes. 

Still, US Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) cautions against the Republican-led election bills, saying they would harm voting access. 

“There is no evidence of widespread election fraud anywhere in the country, and it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections,” Cortez Masto wrote in a statement. “The SAVE Act simply makes it harder for eligible Nevada citizens to vote in a manner that is safe and secure.” 

If the law is enacted, the Center for American Progress estimates that it would disenfranchise millions of voters and stifle more than 130 million passport-less Americans’ access to the ballot box. Only 56% of Nevadans own passports, and the act would take effect immediately upon passage. 

Savwoir urged Nevada’s federal officials to vote no on the SAVE Act, calling the provision a “war on women,” as 69 million women are projected to lose access to voting. 

US Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) also pointed to barriers that women and rural Nevadans, who may live miles from government services, could face under the policy. She vowed not to support any “policies like this bill that limit the ability of eligible Americans to vote.” 

“The SAVE Act would make it harder for Nevadans to vote in person or by mail—particularly the many without a passport, living in rural areas, and Nevadans whose legal names don’t match their birth certificates, such as many married women,” Rosen said. 

The measure requires that names on voter registration records match documentation that proves citizenship, such as birth certificates, which could disproportionately affect women (or LGBTQ) who often have a name change through marriage or divorce. The amendment also requires specific documentation for adopted people and tribal members.

Savwoir also pointed out that, with these changes, new measures would be needed to improve access to personal identification documents, such as extended government office hours to serve the broader community, many of whom work multiple jobs to stay afloat.

“Nobody’s thought about all that,” he said. “We just said there’s an artificial problem, and here’s an artificial solution.”

It’s more of a distraction from real issues, such as affordability, he said of the federal policy, adding that Republicans are focused on the legislation as a means to appease the president, who falsely claims the 2020 election was stolen. 

“Why are you looking back, when we have so many more things that need to be focused on: affordability, all of this international conflict, the deterioration of our social safety nets,” Savwoir said.