Top election officials are warning that President Donald Trump’s sweeping plan to overhaul voting systems would unleash chaos if signed into law — particularly before the November midterms — and could open the door to federal interference in U.S. elections.
Democracy Docket calls the SAVE America Act “a major assault on Americans’ right to vote and states’ constitutional authority over elections.”
The bill forces voters to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, such as an official, certified birth certificate or U.S. passport, to be able to register to vote. It would also require photo ID for voters wishing to cast a ballot, and require all states to share voter data with the federal government. Some estimates say more than 140 million Americans do not have a valid passport, and millions do not have access to a certified copy of their birth certificates.
The SAVE Act “would create chaos in the administration of elections,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Thursday. “All of us know this.”
Noting that the bill’s requirements would go into effect as soon as it is signed, Simon described the move as “unheard of for something this sweeping in scope to take effect immediately.”
READ MORE: ‘Trump’s Favorite Democrat’: Why the Left Is Saying Fetterman ‘Needs to Go’
Simon pointed to a similar Kansas law that disenfranchised 31,000 eligible citizens from being able to register to vote, according to Democracy Docket.
Others also weighed in with concerns.
“This bill assumes that every voter can navigate these requirements and navigate them quickly, and that is just not reality,” Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas said.
“Imagine a woman, divorced, she’s moved, changed her name and needs to update her voter registration,” Thomas said. “Under this bill, that is no longer a simple matter. It means tracking down multiple documents.”
Thomas offered other possible examples, such as an 82-year-old man, who “just moved into assisted living. He’s voted his entire life. He’s never had a passport. No one knows where his birth certificate is at this point, and he doesn’t have a family member to help him use a computer.”
“That lifelong voter could be blocked, not because he’s ineligible, but because he can’t produce the right document at the right time.”
The bill imposes technological and administrative requirements on states but does not fund them, suggested Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.
At the state level, Hobbs said, Washington would have to spend $35 to $40 million to comply with the SAVE Act. Locally, counties in his state would also have to spend millions of dollars annually to comply.
Then there is President Trump’s threat that the federal government, or the GOP, should be in charge of voting.
Last month, the president said, “We should take over the voting in at least many – 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”
Secretary Simon “said his office is preparing for that possibility as if it were an emergency event, like a severe weather event or a power outage,” Democracy Docket reported.
“I regret to say, and it’s very sad to say, that in the year 2026, I have to add to that bucket the possibility that our own federal government will do something that will either directly or even indirectly interfere with the freedom to vote,” he said. “We have to treat this like a bomb threat.”
READ MORE: ‘I Don’t Think She Survives This’: Gabbard Faces Blowback After ‘Devastating’ Testimony
Image via Shutterstock