The 2025 SAVE Act Resurfaces: What It Could Mean for Voters in Tuolumne County

[Note: This is an update to “League of Women Voters Opposes the SAVE Act” appearing in our December 19, 2025 newsletter.]

Since the 1965 Voting Rights Act and until the Trump years, advocates and governments focused on simplifying and augmenting the voter registration process.  After the 2020 presidential election, Republican-led states passed legislation requiring more onerous burdens. But federal proposals, particularly originating with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, passed only by the U.S. House in 2025, have put voter registration rules back into the national spotlight and could create changes that affect everyday voters here at home.

The League of Women Voters is updating its warning about federal legislation (1). Two new bills – the SAVE America Act and Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act – resuscitate the earlier SAVE Act but add stricter voting requirements and build a foundation to nationalize elections. Congress passed the former bill on February 11 on a 218-213 party-line vote, with support from a Texas Democrat. Senate Republicans are gearing up for a vote on it as promised by the majority leader.

The newer SAVE America Act (H.R. 7296, S. 1383) retains the initial legislation’s language requiring documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) at the time of voter registration while challenging states to share their voter rolls with the Department of Homeland Security. The consequence of not sharing voter information would be an additional burden on the voter to provide DPOC again at the polls.

The MEGA Act (H.R. 7300) adds insult to injury by 1) banning people without photo identification from voting and no longer allowing a student ID as identification to vote, 2) requiring proof of residence, 3) purging voters without current periods to enable correction of administrative errors, and 4) preventing states like California from sending all registered voters a vote-by-mail ballot (2). 

Supporters say the goal is straightforward: strengthen public confidence in elections by tightening enforcement of an existing rule that only U.S. citizens may vote in federal elections. However, the Bipartisan Policy Center notes, “instances of noncitizen registration and voting are rare (3).”

Critics argue the issue is not citizenship, but access to the polls by lawful citizens. Opponents of the 2026 bills say they will create barriers for eligible citizens who do not have immediate access to documents, passports, or birth certificates, including seniors, rural residents, lower-income citizens, and women whose legal names have changed due to marriage or divorce.  

For Tuolumne County, this is more than a Washington headline. In our rural community, where many residents still rely on in-person services and paper documentation, changes to registration rules would create delays and added workload for local election offices.

The bills also specify that local election workers could go to prison for up to five years if they assist in registering a voter without the required documents, even if the registered voter is a citizen. Fulton County, Georgia, election workers stood up against false accusations after the 2020 presidential election. These workers are a vital bastion upholding election integrity and deserve our support.

Whether someone views the SAVE America Act as protection or restriction, one truth remains: informed voters are the strongest foundation of any democracy.

NOTES

1.  “Tell Congress to oppose the SAVE Act Suite of bills,” League of Women Voters, February 2026. 
2. “Leadership in Congress Redoubles Efforts to Pass SAVE Act Legislation: Fact Sheet,” Fair Elections Center, February 9, 2026.
3. Wren Orey, Matthew Weil, Julianne Lempert, “Five Things to Know About the SAVE Act,” Bipartisan Policy Center, February 2, 2026.