Attendees listen to Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaking at a “Only Citizens Vote” bus tour rally on passing the SAVE Act at Upper Senate Park outside the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.

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Dan Gooding

By Dan Gooding

Associate News Editor

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Americans are expressing overwhelming support for requiring government-issued photo identification to vote, a key feature touted by Republicans in President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act, even as other provisions in the bill drew substantial opposition and concern.

Three recent polls have shown at least 80 percent of voters saying they support requiring a valid photo ID to register to vote, with a large share of Democrats among them.

Why It Matters

Trump has pushed for the legislation to pass, off the back of years of claims he and the GOP have made about alleged voter fraud, including by immigrants who are not eligible to vote.

Read More on Politics

The SAVE America Act pairs the broadly popular concept of voter ID with stricter rules like proof-of-citizenship to register and limits on mail voting, provisions that have divided the public and raised warnings from election experts about implementation burdens and the risk of blocking eligible voters.

Attendees listen to Texas GOP Representative Chip Roy speaking at a "Only Citizens Vote" rally outside the U.S. Capitol on September 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

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What To Know

Requiring a photo ID to vote ranked among the most popular election policies tested in recent years, with 83 percent of U.S. adults favoring the idea in a Pew Research Center poll of 3,554 adults cited by NBC News earlier this month—a level of support that cut across party and demographic lines.

An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,595 U.S. adult citizens fielded March 13-16 reported that 59 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat supported requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, while 29 percent opposed, revealing more modest and polarized backing compared with photo ID.

By contrast, the same Economist/YouGov survey of 2,009 registered voters found that limiting mail-in ballots to a narrower set of voters drew 41 percent support and 44 percent opposition, indicating that restrictions lacked majority backing nationwide.

Harvard CAPS/HarrisX polling summarized by HarrisX indicated strong support for the SAVE America Act’s concepts, including 81 percent favoring voter ID and 75 percent backing proof of citizenship.

A CBS News/YouGov survey, conducted March 16-19 with a nationally representative sample of 2,500 U.S. adults, reported that photo ID and proof-of-citizenship policies received wide and often bipartisan support, while also noting concerns that proof-of-citizenship could prevent eligible citizens from voting and that most Americans preferred states to administer elections over the federal government.

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) has said that while only citizens can legally vote in federal elections and confirmed instances of non-citizen voting are rare, the bill’s front-end documentation mandate could create hurdles for eligible voters and complicate implementation for election officials.

A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll from March 2-4 found that confidence in fair elections had fallen and that Americans were split over whether voter fraud or voter suppression posed the bigger threat, underscoring the polarized backdrop to the SAVE Act debate.

What Are the SAVE Act ID Requirements?

Acceptable proof-of-citizenship materials in the bill include:

The bill requires states to offer an alternative evidentiary process for applicants who lack these documents.

What People Are Saying

Democratic Washington Senator Patty Murray, on X March 25: "The SAVE America Act is a disaster for democracy and I'm not going let it get passed into law. Are we seriously going to ask rural seniors to buy a $165 passport and drive miles and miles to register to vote in person?"

Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine, on X March 28: "Many House members including myself are going to continue doing our own filibuster. No more Senate bills are passing on the House floor until the SAVE America Act is PASSED. Full stop."

President Donald Trump, on Truth Social earlier in March: “The Save America Act is one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress, and America itself. NO MORE RIGGED ELECTIONS! Voter I.D., Proof of Citizenship, No Rigged Mail-In Voting (We are the only Country in the World that allows this!), No Men in Women’s Sports, No Transgender MUTILIZATION of our Children. 90% to 99% ISSUES ALL! Only sick, demented, or deranged people in the House or Senate could vote against THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. If they do, each one of these points, separately, will be used against the user in his/her political campaign for office - A guaranteed loss!”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, during a speech on the Senate floor: "Not a single Democrat will support the SAVE Act. It is a radical bill. And if Republicans try to burn time on this legislation here on the floor, we will oppose them for as long as it takes. Donald Trump and Senate Republicans know their numbers are sinking badly. They know the American people are souring on their agenda. They know that with each passing day, their prospects for November get worse."

What Happens Next

Senate leaders said they would take up the SAVE America Act, but acknowledged that the bill faced long odds and that eliminating the filibuster to pass it lacked sufficient support, making near-term enactment uncertain.

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