Larson Opposes Republican Bill to Nationalize Elections and Make it More Difficult for 21 Million Americans to Vote
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) opposed the so-called “SAVE America Act,” a Republican bill that advances President Trump’s call to “nationalize elections” and would make it harder for 21 million Americans to vote, including married women and deployed members of the Armed Forces.
“President Trump and Republicans in Congress know their cost-raising policies and cruel agenda are unpopular. Instead of listening to the people, they are doing everything they can to block Americans from making their voices heard at the ballot box this November,” said Larson. “This bill would make it harder for millions of married women, students, servicemembers deployed abroad, and Native Americans to vote, while threatening election workers with prison time just for doing their jobs. They even snuck in a backdoor poll tax, by forcing the 140 million Americans without a passport to pay a fee before they can get a valid ID. If this was truly about protecting the right to vote, Republican leadership would bring forward the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that Democrats introduced in honor of my late colleague, friend, and seatmate, to ensure all citizens can cast their ballot safely and securely, free from fear or intimidation.”
Tonight’s House vote follows President Trump’s call to “nationalize elections,” an FBI raid at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, and a Department of Justice court filing revealing ‘DOGE’ employees signed an agreement to turn over Social Security data to a MAGA-affiliated group working to overturn election results. Earlier today, Larson introduced a Resolution of Inquiry with every Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee probing the illegal ‘DOGE’ election interference scheme at the Social Security Administration.
The so-called “SAVE America Act” would:
Require Americans to present, in person, either a passport or birth certificate to election officials in order to vote, despite the fact thatmore than 140 million citizens do not possess a valid passport, and as many as 69 million married women do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.
Prohibit high school and college students from using their student ID to verify their identity at the polls.
Block tribal IDs from being accepted as a valid form of identification at the polls.
Force states to hand over their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security, empowering Secretary Kristi Noem to purge registered voters off of state rolls.
Larson voted against similar versions of this legislation in 2024 and 2025. In October, Larson introduced the Voter Purge Protection Actwith Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03) to prevent states from improperly eliminating a voter’s registration. Rep. Larson also helped introduce the landmark John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would protect every citizen’s right to cast their ballot safely and securely by restoring Civil Rights-era Voting Rights Act protections from discriminatory laws that seek to disenfranchise voters.