Democracy Was Fun While It Lasted – Then Came the SAVE Act

The SAVE Act, brought to you by the same folks who brought us “alternative facts” and four-hour lines to vote, is the GOP’s latest attempt to make democracy look more like a gated community. With a name like “SAVE,” you’d think it was about rescuing puppies or pensions. Nope. It’s about “saving” elections from imaginary problems with very real consequences.

This little gem already passed the U.S. House of Representatives (because of course it did), and now it’s making its way to the Senate—where, under normal circumstances, it would need 60 votes to pass. That’s because most things that aren’t budget-related or full of judicial appointments go through regular order, also known as “what’s left of functioning democracy.”

But don’t count the GOP out just yet—they’re already floating ways to manipulate Senate procedure to pass it with a simple majority, perhaps by sneaking it into a must-pass bill or redefining “election security” as a budgetary issue. Because if there’s one thing Republicans are good at, it’s playing fast and loose with the rules of governance.

Vote? Sure. Just Prove You Exist First.

Let’s start with the obvious: voter ID laws are the heart of this bill, but not the kind you flash at a bar or airport. Under the SAVE Act, you must present proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections. Your state-issued ID? Cute. Your Social Security card? Try again. Your signed testimony under penalty of perjury that you were born in Topeka? Nope.

You’ll need a passport, naturalization paperwork, or a certified birth certificate that hasn’t been through the wash twice. Millions of Americans don’t have those readily accessible—especially seniors, low-income voters, and people born outside of hospitals in the Jim Crow South. But hey, nothing screams “election integrity” like denying Grandma her ballot because she can’t find paperwork from 1943.

The section of the SAVE Act that describes what qualifies as “Documentary Proof of United States Citizenship” is below.

Some are easy enough. For example, showing a valid U. S. passport works. That’s fine, although only about half of Americans have a valid passport.

What else would work?  An official U. S. military ID card – OK, but with the military ID, you need to have a “military record of service showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.“

I was on active duty in the U.S. Navy for several years, and my service record was the size of a paperback book. So, the SAVE Act requires our servicemen and women to produce their service records and military IDs. This is just another example of Republicans who pay lip service to the military, erecting barriers to prevent them from voting. 

The SAVE Act Is the New Jim Crow

The “Documentary Proof of United States Citizenship” is reminiscent of the Jim Crow Laws designed to prevent blacks from voting. But now, it’s not just blacks; it’s all of us. 

Under Jim Crow, it was, “read this passage.” Now it’s “Show us a certified birth certificate from 1953.” Different tools, same outcome: keep certain voters out.

Roughly 21 million eligible U.S. citizens lack ready access to the documents listed in the SAVE Act –

• Rural Americans who don’t have a passport.

• Low-income citizens without access to vital records.

• Native Americans born outside hospitals and lacking formal birth certificates.

• Elderly people who may have never needed a passport or lost key records.

Just like under Jim Crow, the barriers are crafted to sound “neutral,” but they hit certain groups far harder than others.