The bill would require anyone registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship—a valid U.S. passport, or a photo ID presented with a certified birth certificate.
This presents a pretty big problem for a large group of people: women, especially married women who have changed their name, a group that numbers over 69 million. If the SAVE Act becomes law, any time one of those millions of women goes to register to vote for the first time or change their voter registration—maybe they moved to a new address—they could be turned away if the names on their identification and birth certificate don’t match.
If you have any doubts about the intent behind this rights-robbing bill just look at the men behind it.
First off, there’s Peter Thiel: billionaire MAGA donor, sugar daddy of JD Vance and a notable Trump ally. In 2009, Thiel said “the extension of the franchise to women” turned democracy into a joke.
Then, there’s Mark Thompson, a GOP-endorsed North Carolina candidate for governor in 2024, who has publicly called for a return to the days when women couldn’t vote.
Not all people have ID, but the bigger danger with this one is that it’s targeting people whose name doesn’t match what’s on the official record. And that mostly means recently married women and trans people. Two groups that conservatives don’t want voting. As ever, it’s not about the IDs.