The SAVE Act, the latest voter suppression tactic by the Trump regime and GOP
TAT readers,
I hope that all government workers are finding a little peace on this President’s Day. Over at DHS, there is less joy as that they are working without pay or their promised $ 50,000 bonuses. This is all because Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Tom Homan etc., brought this on themselves and their departments, by murdering, assaulting and violating First and Fourth Amendment rights of US citizens, while denying due process to everyone detained. Their brutal assault on American citizens, legal residents, those legally in our Asylum system and undocumented immigrants as well, have turned nearly 70% of America against them.
I am one of those disgusted at what falsely serves as law enforcement. Still, this is not the biggest threat to our republic… voter suppression is and in our republic, there are few things more un-American. For a couple of decades, the Republican Party has done all possible to suppress voters in certain demographics.
No American with a little common-sense, a modicum of intelligence and a moral compass is any longer buying the “road apples" the administration and the GOP are selling. Between ICE brutality and the GOP’s insistence on protecting pedophiles, they have proved themselves devoid of these three traits. This is why all of the GOP’s rhetoric about the SAVE Act, is unconscionably dishonest. Let’s review this blatantly un-American legislation and some of their previous efforts in today’s essay. It will surprise most Americans just how deviant this bill and previous GOP voter suppression laws are.
First up, what is this voter suppression bill called the SAVE Act"?
Let’s begin with what appears on the bill from Congress.gov.
"Introduced in House (01/03/2025) Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE Act This bill requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Specifically, the bill prohibits 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. The bill specifies what documents are considered acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship, such as identification that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates U.S. citizenship. Further, the bill (1) prohibits states from registering an individual to vote in a federal election unless, at the time the individual applies to register to vote, the individual provides documentary proof of U.S. citizenship; and (2) requires states to establish an alternative process under which an applicant may submit other evidence to demonstrate U.S. citizenship. Each state must take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote, which shall include establishing a program to identify individuals who are not U.S. citizens using information supplied by certain sources. Additionally, states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters. The bill allows for a private right of action against an election official who registers an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship." The bill establishes criminal penalties for certain offenses, including registering an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. - H.R.22 - SAVE Act 119th Congress (2025-2026) | - Congress.gov - Representative Chip Roy
Trying to pass this heinous piece of legislation so close to our upcoming elections will make it nearly impossible for over 21 million voters, to acquire acceptable proof of citizenship in time to register to vote, and for some of the reasons expressed in the League of Women Voters, LWV public statement.
For full transparency, Chip Roy is shamefully my congressman. As with nearly all Republican congressmen and senators, Chip is as dishonest as the day is long, even cruel and often unconstitutional in his opinions. His bill, like a long list of previous GOP voter suppression laws and policies at the state level, will continue to diminish voter rolls for dishonest and unconstitutional purposes. Every single one of these laws and policies target disadvantaged communities, especially Americans of color.
There is no debate about this for those who understand our system of government, despite our right-wing controlled SCOTUS, US Supreme Court, continuing to approve of the GOP’s far-right agenda. In the Trump era, SCOTUS has taken a decidedly, far-right turn, including approval for racial profiling by ICE operations, while denying race in Affirmative Action cases. For those seeking more background, please see the previous TAT essays on the subject of our far-right SCOTUS, below.
John Roberts’ SCOTUS, is legalizing a Confederacy 2.0
SCOTUS, our very own Kangaroo Court - by Paul Cobaugh
My personal concerns fall very much along the lines articulated by the famously non-partisan, League of Women Voters/ LWV, who see this as obstructionism to Americans exercising their constitutionally guaranteed, voting rights. Please see below, the text of the LWV’s public statement.
"Congress continues to introduce bills that would require voters to present documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to register and/or vote. In the 119th Congress, three major pieces of legislation have been introduced to require DPOC to vote, including: The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in 2025 and would require citizenship documentation to register to vote, and, more recently, The SAVE America Act and the Make Elections Great Again Act, which have even stricter components than the SAVE Act, like requirements for voters to present DPOC both at registration and the polls, and for absentee ballots to be received by election day. Collectively, we are referring to these pieces of legislation as the “SAVE Act suite of bills.” It is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. Requiring documentary proof of American citizenship to register to vote in federal elections is unnecessary and seeks to divide us. It simply creates another barrier to voting. Many communities of eligible voters would be unnecessarily burdened by the requirements of the SAVE Act. Among them are: Military voters, who would be required to present documentation every time they re-register to vote when their family moves. Families who have been impacted by natural disasters and lost important documentation, who would be required to jump through hoops to replace these documents while also going through the traumatic process of rebuilding their lives. Married women and other Americans who have changed their names, who would also be required to secure updated documentation to register to vote. People of color. Compared to white US citizens, citizens of color are three times more likely to lack documents such as birth certificates, passports, naturalization certificates, or certificates of citizenship or face difficulties accessing them. For example, while approximately half of all American adults possess a passport, two-thirds of Black Americans do not. Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote. The SAVE Act would create one more barrier to the voting process, as many eligible voters do not have easy access to the necessary documents. Tell Congress to oppose the SAVE Act suite of bills." - Tell Congress to oppose the SAVE Act Suite of bills - League of Women Voters
After the historic voter turnout in our 2020 Election that trounced the Trump campaign, Republicans immediately commenced a coordinated strategy to restrict voter access. The GOP in fact uses what most would call a “playbook. ”In the years since, this trend continues and now we’re faced with this new “suite of bills” to dramatically reduce voter turnout. Talk about selling out democracy! Still, it fits their profile of abuse towards any anti-GOP voter, especially those in minority or marginalized communities. White Christian Nationalism is alive and inundating today’s GOP. Here in TX, Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas Taliban, a.k.a. the Republican Party of Texas, have been suppressing voter turnout in non-GOP and all immigrant and disabled communities to a point, that it is nearly an artform.
The impact of passage of the SAVE ACT is estimated to negatively affect over 21 million US voters.
To impact marginalized voting communities more, the Act does not allow for online submissions, a devastating impact to disabled and elderly voters. Finally last year, a Federal Court overturned a Texas law that said we could not give disabled voters to the polls. Yep, as we say in Texas, Greg Abbott and his Texas Taliban, are, “bootlickers to Trump” and will do anything to make him happy. Remember that it was Texas that shamefully led Trump’s campaign to illegally gerrymander seats for Republicans. They passed the new maps over the outcries of a substantial majority of Texans of both parties. I use Texas often as an example of the most heinous aspects of today’s MAGA GOP, but every other so-called, “red-state” is nearly as bad.
With the current ICE operations, even immigrants with legal status and US citizenship are cautious about spending too much time outside their own homes, often for their family’s sake. As is noted in the section regarding the League of Women Voters, it clearly explains the extreme disadvantage to military personnel. As retired US Army, this especially is like “nails on a chalkboard” to me and many of my military brothers and sisters-in-arms. Our votes while deployed are already only counted as an afterthought, or in case a race is too close to call. Yes, it is disgraceful of the GOP.
Then there’s the blatant lying about election fraud from the Republican Party. Some of the most comprehensive research on election fraud actually comes from the nefarious, Heritage Foundation, who authored and published, Project 2025, and who has been tracking such cases in detail for over half a century. In the graphic below you can clearly see how paltry the claims of voter fraud are.
There’s a lot to digest in today’s essay, so I will offer now a quick summary, or rather a bottom-line to the willful intent of the Republican Party, to suppress anti-GOP voters. Remember, we are already starting the midterm elections, going uphill after decades of GOP voter suppression. We cannot allow the SAVE Act deny us our constitutionally guaranteed rights. In our constitutional republic, few things are more sacred than our voting rights. Chief Justice John Roberts via his Citizens United decision already imposed the burden of unlimited black money into our elections. Those same billionaires and some oligarchs, are now the ones profiting from this criminal administration. They buy our elections like most of us buy groceries from our local supermarkets.
The soulless Trump-era GOP hasn’t only stuck a knife into the belly of our republic, now they are hellbent on twisting that knife, by suppressing voter turnout. They violate several of the Amendments daily, especially the First and Fourth. I’ll be damned if I will stand still for anymore. To this end, I’ll leave you with somewhat of a prediction for November’s elections; I nor the American people will accept the outcome of the elections, should we feel cheated by Republican tactics, actions leading up to and during the election cycle. This is especially true if there is any indication that by any serious means, the GOP is caught with their grubby little paws disrupting our elections. There are already well articulated threats issuing from experts and credible think tanks. We must be vigilant.
At our founding, we booted out an oppressive King. During the Civil War, we stood against a traitorous Confederacy. It’s in our DNA, to take on the cowards of the GOP and thrash them appropriately at the polls or elsewhere should it be required to restore our republic. As I discussed last week in two essays, the momentum has shifted to the resistance. As a reminder to readers, the worst thing that we can do in restoring the brutal assault on America by the Republican party, is to make this a partisan, blue vs. red fight. Those folks waving “blue wave” flags are actually undermining what the resistance is all about and its chance of success. Resisting is to save our republic, not for a party, but for all Americans. Shouting “blue wave” puts off independent voters, who want to restore our republic, without affiliating with a party.
The last thing I will briefly mention is, “where the hell is the DNC?” I’ve heard no narrative outside of the courageous Democrats in Congress taking to media. There is no leadership, no narrative of their intentions, no agenda or otherwise. They are behaving like the failed campaigners they’ve been for decades. If their campaign consultants don’t pull their heads out of somewhere they won’t need a haircut, it will be they who allowed fascism to displace democracy in America. We don’t need their help, we need their checkbook. They clearly don’t know what to do with campaign contributions.
We must do this ourselves. As long-time readers know, I despise the concept of political parties. At this point in time, our goal is to not only reset our nation, but to remodel it to prevent a Trump era from ever happening again. No political party owns the rights to our nation of laws. We’re in this together and must rebuild and reinforce… together.
Cheers fellow citizens and patriots,
Publius Redux