The House on Wednesday passed the Save Act, a bill that would make major changes to federal voting rules, including requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register and limiting mail-in voting.

The measure passed by a narrow 218-213 vote. It now heads to the Senate. 

The bill, formally known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, would require people to show documents proving citizenship when registering to vote or updating their registration. Most Americans would need to present a passport or birth certificate in person.

Under the proposal, common forms of identification such as government-issued driver’s licenses, including REAL IDs, as well as military and tribal IDs, would not meet the requirement.

The legislation would also end online voter registration, block voter registration applications sent by mail and restrict voter registration drives.

According to the 2022 Election Administration and Voting Survey by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, about 69% of voting-age citizens were registered to vote in the 2022 midterm election. The report found that millions of people registered or updated their voter information online or by mail options would be limited under the SAVE Act.

Dr. Nora Cisneros, ethnic studies professor at Cal State Bakersfield said many of her students voiced concern about how the legislation could affect their sense of safety and participation in elections.

“I discussed the bill with my Introduction to Ethnic Studies class,” Cisneros said. “What kept coming up was that many students who are eligible to vote come from mixed-status families. They told me they feel anxious and intimidated about what stricter documentation requirements could mean for them and their families.”

Cisneros said students questioned whether voting would continue to feel safe and accessible. 

“Their concern wasn’t about the mechanics of presenting documents,” she said. “It was about whether their vote would be respected and whether new barriers might discourage participation. There’s a real fear that measures like this could have a chilling effect, particularly in Latino communities.”

She added that Latino communities, including naturalized citizens, could be especially affected.

“It would have a devastating impact, especially on Latino communities that are naturalized citizens and may not always have easy access to required documents,” Cisneros said. “It just creates unnecessary barriers.”

National civil rights groups criticized the House vote.

“There is no proof of widespread voter fraud that would justify these strict rules,” said Xavier Persad a spokesperson of the ACLU. “Laws like this have often kept eligible people from voting because of paperwork issues.”

The ACLU said the bill would require passports or birth certificates to register or update voter information documents many people do not easily have. The group said millions of voters could be affected, including women who changed their names after marriage.

The organization also said the bill could force states to remove people from voter rolls and share private voter information with the federal government, raising privacy concerns.

The ACLU mentioned a similar law in Kansas that blocked more than 30,000 eligible voters from registering before it was later struck down by the courts.

“Kansas already showed us what happens when these kinds of laws are passed,” said Xavier Persad of the ACLU. “Tens of thousands of eligible people were stopped from registering, and the courts later ruled it was illegal. That’s the real-world impact of these policies.”

Federal courts later overturned the Kansas law in 2018, ruling it violated federal voting law and the U.S. Constitution.

These documentation rules raise questions about people’s identities and official records.

According to a 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center, about eight in 10 women in opposite-sex marriages said they took their husband’s last name after marriage. 

A 2023 YouGov survey found that Americans under 30 are more likely than older age groups to hold a current U.S. passport, a form of identification that would satisfy the SAVE Act’s registration requirement. 

About 53% of adults under 30 reported having a valid passport compared with lower shares among older adults, including 46% of those 30-44 and 33% of those 45-64. Hispanic Americans and people with higher levels of education also were more likely to hold passports, according to the survey.  

The survey also showed economic and regional differences: adults with higher incomes and college degrees were far more likely to hold a current passport than those with lower incomes or less education. 

“At the end of the day, voting should be accessible and safe for everyone who is eligible. When new requirements make people feel intimidated or discouraged, that’s when we have to ask who is really being protected and who is being pushed out,” Cisneros said.