As SAVE America Act stalls, GOP states are quietly enacting their own proof of citizenship laws

President Donald Trump’s effort to push his restrictive anti-voting bill through Congress has so far failed. 

Trump said he won’t pass anything else until the SAVE America Act – a voting bill that could disenfranchise millions of Americans and poses barriers for students, the disability community, married women and Americans overseas – is set in stone.

The president has insisted, despite data revealing it’s not true, that the United States has a widespread voter fraud issue. It’s one he’s determined to fix.

The problem? Voting experts say Trump and his Republican envoys are seeking a flawed solution to a non-issue.

While the bill introduced March 17 remains stalled in the Senate, some state leaders have posted about, proposed and even enacted statewide proof of citizenship laws to vote. This isn’t new. Some states have had proof of citizenship voting laws for years. But now a flood of other states are following suit.

Anti-voting groups across the nation are also pressuring states to pass new restrictive voting laws. Catherine Engelbrecht, the founder of True the Vote, described the right-wing conspiracy theory group’s focus during a livestream Wednesday.

“If the SAVE America Act isn’t going to pass then I’m going to use every tool at my disposal to try and get states to react to something,” Engelbrecht said.

Co-host Meg Denning read multiple excerpts from the Bible during the livestream followed by a promise to take the issue of proof of citizenship for voting “to the courts.”

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders worry about states’ momentum in enacting these laws.

“Republicans in state legislatures are wasting no time in passing copycat SAVE America Act legislation, making sure voter suppression moves forward even with Congress in gridlock,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams wrote in a statement April 3.

Ten states have laws – four of which passed in the second Trump administration – that require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. 

Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota and Utah all enacted proof of citizenship voting bills in the past two weeks.

In 12 other states, bills are moving through state legislatures, with lawsuits following.

Although Vermont is a deep blue state, voting rights advocates there say it’s not immune.

“Even if the president doesn’t get his way and get the SAVE [America] ACT through, or doesn’t issue it as an executive order which will have to be challenged in court at the state level, many of the changes from the SAVE ACT are already happening in parts of the country,” said Marguerite Adelman, the president of the League of Women Voters of Vermont.

Here’s a state-by-state breakdown, with data from the Voting Rights Lab’s Election Policy Tracker.

Florida

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s law enacting proof of citizenship requirements when registering to vote April 1.

The Florida provisions would go into effect in 2027.

Florida residents would need the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to verify citizenship, only able to cast “provisional ballots” without this verification. 

Student ID, retirement center ID and neighborhood association ID are examples provided in HB 991 as identification forms that don’t make the cut.
But voting rights groups in Florida have already started to sue.

Mississippi

Mississippi’s SHIELD Act – which would take effect July 1 – passed in the state senate and was signed by Gov. Tate Reeves (R) April 1.

According to the law, all registered voters will be automatically enrolled in a state-run system managing elections. The law also creates a partnership between the state and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE) system. 

Senate Elections Committee Chairman Sen. Jeremy England (R) said the legislation does not address whether information about non-citizens would be turned over to the authorities, according to local reporting from the Senate floor Feb. 5.

England said the state has found around 15 non-citizens. That’s out of 1.7 million people who are registered to vote in Mississippi.

South Dakota

Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed South Dakota’s proof of citizenship bill March 26. 

This law takes effect immediately, meaning new voters looking to cast their ballot in the June 2 primary and in the general midterm election must provide documentation proving their citizenship. 
While a reported 273 non-citizens registered to vote across the state, according to the Secretary of State’s office, just one voted in the 2016 general election.

Utah

Meanwhile in Utah, only one non-citizen was found to be registered and not a single non-citizen has voted in a Utah election, according to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s (R) review.

Despite this, Utah’s HB0209, requiring proof of citizenship to vote, was signed into law March 25.

The bill provides an exception for federal-only ballots, which would then cancel out if the national SAVE America Act – which faces long odds as it stalls in the Senate – passes.

‘That doesn’t mean that the seeds aren’t there:’ Bills in limbo

While still working through legislative chambers, other states are on the verge of passing their own SAVE America Act-adjacent bills. 

Five states have proof of citizenship bills passed in one or both chambers and eight states have bills introduced.

Even in states without bills introduced, Republican state and federal representatives have pushed for state versions of the SAVE America Act in their legislatures. U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) touted Trump’s vision to “nationalize the voting” in his own call for nationwide voter identification in advance of the 2026 midterm elections.

But like Adelman of the League of Women Voters noted, Blue states like New York, Michigan and Rhode Island have also seen proposed legislation for proof of citizenship requirements over the past year.

“It got introduced but it didn’t make crossover in Montpelier and it didn’t really get a hearing,” Adelman said. “But that doesn’t mean that the seeds aren’t there – even here in Vermont.”

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article included a map that incorrectly marked Illinois as a Republican-led state. The map has been changed to reflect that Illinois is a Democratic-led state.