• Formidable
  • Posts
  • Bill would prevent millions of women from voting

Bill would prevent millions of women from voting

The SAVE Act's requirements would mean anyone who has changed their name would not be able to vote

Author

Emily Parkhurst
March 05, 2025

A bill that would restrict women from voting is a top priority for the GOP-led House. This poster is from the women’s suffrage movement of the early 20th century, when women were fighting for the right to vote. Image courtesy Schlesinger Library, RIAS, Harvard University, via Wikimedia Commons

What you probably already know: The GOP is fervently supporting a bill, recently reintroduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, that would amend the National Voter Registration Act and require proof of citizenship for people to vote. On its face, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act aims to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in American elections, essentially solving for what isn’t really a problem — noncitizen voting. The way the act is written, however, would mean that as many as 69 million women would not be allowed to vote.

Why? The SAVE Act would require voters to present a birth certificate or passport that matches their government-issued ID, which for millions of married people, particularly women who have changed their names, isn’t possible. The act does not include proof of a name change or marriage certificate a proof of identity, so there would be no way for people who have changed their names to vote. Additionally, the added documentation would be harder for some people to obtain, which would just make it harder to vote while also making poll workers the front lines for enforcement.

What it means: Most government issued IDs don’t indicate whether someone is a citizen of the U.S., so the bill aims to force a cross-check to documents that do prove that, including passports. Only about 51% of Americans have passports, though, and the states with the fewest passport holders are West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky, all Republican states. Arizona recently implemented a proof of citizenship law to vote in the state and was forced to roll back the provision after a court case ruled it unconstitutional.

What happens now? The GOP-led House of Representatives has declared that passing the SAVE Act is among the top priorities for the year and, as a result, can bypass the committee process and go straight to the floor for a vote. It would face a larger challenge in the Senate, where Democrats will oppose it. President Trump has urged Congress to pass the bill. Secretaries of State across the U.S., including many Republicans, have come out against the bill, saying that it creates insurmountable challenges for states and little-to-no support to implement the law.