# Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act - End of Democracy or Its Savior? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 13, 2025, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253 "2025-02-13T00:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/61 "2025-04-10T16:53:53Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Election judge? Not sure what that is? In Illinois, you have volunteers checking people in, making sure signatures match the file, giving out ballots. They call them “election judges”, At least here, they tend to be from the same district. I’ve known most of the ones I’ve gotten my ballot from. Like I said - in that case, a non-issue. Yes, the real concern of the SAVE ACT are at time of voter registration. Unfortunately, there are some shenanigans out there with removing registrations, and, yes, there will be some concerns about re-registering. As long as you have official documents showing the name change, OK. Not everyone has those readily available. That’s the real problem. Voting is run by the states. If you’re registered, you’re registered. If your state makes you re-register, then, yes, you may have to prove the name change. Again, similar to the Real ID. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/62 "2025-04-10T17:12:25Z")
We call them election inspectors. They scan your id and find your record in the poll book, hand out ballots. It’s very straightforward with several checks and balances to ensure one vote per registered voter. When I applied for a passport in 2013 , I had all the necessary documents but the clerk at the PO was not happy that my driver’s license listed my maiden name in place of my middle name given at birth. She insisted it was a legal name change that I needed to show proof. She wanted to see my marriage license too which was not a stated requirement at the time. I had no idea where it was. In the end I got the passport. Now for my enhanced DL last year I did need to find the marriage certificate and my birth certificate which I did. But rn Instagram moms are flipping out over the save act and a rep from Oregon introduced an amendment to allow married women and others the right to vote using their married names. It failed because it’s unnecessary? and the girls are howling about it. It’s a little ridiculous I think. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/63 "2025-04-10T17:38:06Z")
The president of the United States couldn’t produce a birth certificate that convinced MAGA folks it was legitimate. What makes you think some MAGA politician or clerk isn’t going to use this make it as hard as possible for the wrong type of people to vote? All they have to do is flag something as suspicious and the onus will suddenly be on the person to prove they have a valid birth certificate in time to get to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/64 "2025-04-10T17:49:35Z")
> [@chela](#): > > the clerk at the PO was not happy that my driver’s license listed my maiden name in place of my middle name given at birth This happens to women a lot. It happened to my mother, and she has just ended up using a wide profusion of legal names depending on who accepts what documentation, from her birth name to her married name to a strange amalgamation. It works okay for her, and will one day be a nightmare for me to sort out. (But she’s too old and cranky to do what’s necessary to deal with it.) ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/65 "2025-04-10T22:59:18Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Will anyone who is already registered to vote be expected to produce documents other than a valid id when voting? No. > [@chela](#): > > And how would they know what my birth certificate says? Does not matter.. Putting this through the prism of other news this week: Strongman rule aims to create uncertainty that the strongman, and his supporters, can then address, solidifying his support. That’s the real way this nonsense might conceivably help the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/66 "2025-04-11T04:43:58Z")
Chuck Schumer says he’s not going to allow the SAVE Act to pass the Senate, which means that tomorrow he’s going to declare that he has no choice but to vote for it. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:x4g4laxkmsrczwvnvbbgsm7g/bafkreiahnpwaj3h3anafn63gpaprim5dqueh2xsslhfwzaspybkv6zdwmy@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:x4g4laxkmsrczwvnvbbgsm7g/bafkreiahnpwaj3h3anafn63gpaprim5dqueh2xsslhfwzaspybkv6zdwmy@jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/67 "2025-04-11T15:47:41Z")
I just saw a clip of Jamie Raskin saying women will have to take all their documents to the polls in order to vote. That’s such BS. Of course if one is able to register to vote on Election Day, yeah bring your documents that show proof of citizenship and residency. And get registered on the spot. But if I’m already registered and not been purged from the poll book I don’t need anything other than an ID. I wish the democrats would stop patronizing the electorate. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/68 "2025-04-11T16:54:46Z")
While the OP seems to be primarily an argument that the SAVE act is good because it would disenfranchise Republicans, > [@chela](#): > > I’m getting messages the SAVE ACT passed the house. And for some reason people who are already registered to vote are freaking out that they will be prevented from voting if their birth certificate does not match their current name. 70 million women potentially disenfranchised. I kinda call BS. It also passed the House last year. You can read this year’s bill for yourself here: [https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22) It affects registration, not voting per se. But in most states, you must update your registration when changing name or address. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/69 "2025-04-11T21:46:33Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > affects registration, not voting per se. But in most states, you must update your registration when changing name or address. Correct, and if one is moving outside their precinct yes I assume they have to register to vote in the new precinct. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/70 "2025-04-12T00:37:57Z")
This Atlantic article is mostly about Trump’s executive order to federalize election rules, but compares that to the SAVE Act: [Trump Is Already Undermining the Next Election](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-already-undermining-the-next-election/ar-AA1CJn0n?cvid=f977db7d45d942bf82a0b77047e7693e&ei=2) > [@](#): > > Using its constitutional authority, Congress might, if it chooses, [pass the SAVE Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22). The act is a controversial piece of pending legislation that would impose identification requirements on some voters at their polling places, and prohibit states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. > > In other words, the SAVE Act would do legislatively exactly what the Trump order attempts to do by the might of the executive branch. But the bill likely doesn’t have enough support to pass. When proposed in the last Congress, it died in the Senate, and it again awaits Senate consideration this year, having just passed the House. That’s how this is supposed to work. The executive can’t then come in and do what Congress has declined to do. Interpreting this my way, the real problem isn’t the specific rules the GOP is pushing — some might be found in undoubted democracies — but the changes and resultant confusion that Trump needs for election cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/71 "2025-04-12T12:02:00Z")
The Constitution says states shall decide the manner of elections. How is the federal government dictating election rules to them not unconstitutional? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/72 "2025-04-12T12:18:20Z")
The states and the feds both have authority to regulate elections, with the federal power able to supersede the state power. See Article I, section 4: > The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/73 "2025-04-28T22:41:57Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > And what about married women who changed their name What about JD Vance, whose birth certificate says James Donald Bowman? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/74 "2026-02-13T23:31:31Z")
I guess I will not be able to vote anymore. I have never had a passport.I have lost my birth certificate and have been married three times. This does not feel good, at all. I never thought I’d see this happen, but I thought Abortion was safe too. This is going to be unbearable on Election Day. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/75 "2026-02-13T23:40:27Z")
I don’t see any way this bill gets 60 votes in the Senate. Or that it isn’t ruled to be an unconstitutional poll tax. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/76 "2026-02-13T23:55:17Z")
What forces will line up against it? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/77 "2026-02-14T00:00:58Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > How many people without their ID have YOU helped by getting it? Probably about 500/year for the last ten years. So I have helped 5,000 people obtain such documentation. They are all domestic violence survivors whose partners destroyed or withheld their documentation so it would be easier to hold them captive. There are plenty of progressives out there doing that work. It’s insulting to imply otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/78 "2026-02-14T00:08:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What forces will line up against it? Well, for starters, it needs at LEAST seven Democratic senators to vote yes on it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/79 "2026-02-14T00:32:22Z")
Or six depending on which side of his brain Fetterman wakes up on. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253/80 "2026-02-14T00:54:17Z")
Fetterman is a no. (Sorry for posting Daily Caller, it was the only non-paywalled source I could find.) > **[Fetterman Says Whether He'll Buck His Party, Back Election Integrity Bill](https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/13/john-fetterman-reveals-save-act-democrats/?utm_campaign=dcfb&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook)** > > Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman disclosed that he would not vote for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safeguard-american-voter-eligibility-save-act-end-of-democracy-or-its-savior/1014253.md?page=5)