HR22-119

What This Bill Does

The SAVE Act rewrites federal voter-registration rules for elections for federal office. It defines documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to include REAL ID documents that indicate citizenship, a U.S. passport, military ID plus service record showing U.S. birthplace, government photo ID showing U.S. birthplace, government photo ID plus a qualifying birth certificate, hospital birth record, adoption decree showing U.S. birthplace, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Naturalization Certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, other federal citizenship proof under immigration law, or a DHS American Indian Card classified as KIC. States may not accept or process a registration application for federal elections unless the applicant presents documentary proof with the application. The bill applies that requirement to motor-voter registration, mail registration, and voter-registration agencies; requires applicants who cannot present documentary proof to sign a penalty-of-perjury attestation and submit other citizenship evidence for state or local determination; allows states to identify noncitizens using DHS SAVE, Social Security verification, state ID or driver-license citizenship data, and other databases; and requires federal agencies with relevant eligibility information to provide it to state election officials within 24 hours, including batched information. It permits use of registration information in criminal or immigration proceedings against applicants who knowingly make false eligibility declarations, treats registering an applicant without documentary proof as an enforceable NVRA violation, adds penalties for executive-branch personnel who materially assist noncitizens attempting to register or vote in federal elections, requires EAC guidance within 10 days, requires DHS to notify state election officials when a person becomes a naturalized citizen, and preserves state exemptions from unrelated federal laws.

Who Benefits and How

State election officials, the Election Assistance Commission, congressional election-oversight committees, election-integrity organizations, voters concerned about noncitizen registration, state motor vehicle agencies, state vital records offices, Department of Homeland Security verification staff, Social Security Administration verification staff, and federal prosecutors benefit from a mandatory documentation framework, federal database access, 24-hour agency responses, naturalization notices, and clearer enforcement hooks for federal-election voter registration.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Prospective voters without ready citizenship documents, naturalized citizens, citizens born abroad, Native voters relying on tribal or DHS documents, elderly voters, low-income voters, recently moved voters, state election officials, local election offices, motor vehicle agencies, voter-registration agencies, Department of State passport staff, DHS SAVE administrators, Social Security Administration verification staff, executive-branch employees, and voting-rights organizations must provide or verify documentation, manage alternate attestations, handle database checks, respond within 24 hours, update forms and public notices, and face higher registration barriers, compliance costs, litigation risk, or criminal exposure if applications are processed without required proof.

Key Provisions

• Adds a detailed documentary-proof-of-citizenship definition covering passports, REAL ID citizenship documents, military records, birth records, adoption decrees, consular reports, naturalization documents, citizenship certificates, and DHS KIC American Indian Cards.
• Requires states to reject or not process federal-election registration applications unless documentary proof of citizenship is presented.
• Requires alternate attestation and evidence processes for applicants who cannot present documentary proof, with state or local citizenship determinations.
• Requires states and federal agencies to use DHS SAVE, Social Security, driver-license, state-ID, and other citizenship databases, with relevant federal agencies responding to state officials within 24 hours.
• Requires EAC implementation guidance within 10 days and DHS naturalization notices to state election officials.
• Adds enforcement exposure for officials who register applicants without proof and for executive-branch employees who materially assist noncitizens attempting to register or vote.