Millions of US citizens could lose their right to vote after House passes restrictive SAVE Act

WIKIA

AANHPI voters may find it more difficult to do so if the SAVE Act is signed into law.

When it coes time to vote for Congress in 2026, Asian and Pacific Island American voters should remember the latest legislation introduced after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation that would disenfranchise millions of AANHPI, other minorities and women.

The  US House of Representatives  on Thursday voted, 220-208, to pass  the misleadingly named Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The legislation purportedly aims to block non-citizens from voting, which is already illegal and is very rare. Four Democrats joined the GOP majority to advance the bill.

“House Republicans’ so-called SAVE Act is nothing more than a shameful attempt to silence the voices of millions of Americans. This bill will prevent Americans from using their driver’s license or military ID in order to register to vote. It will also eliminate existing voter registration methods, including registering via mail or online," said a statement from Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus chair Grace Meng and Rep, Bobby Scott, Congress' lone Filipino American who chairs CAPAC's Civil Rights and Voting Rights Task Force.

“If this bill were to become law, military service members deployed overseas would be forced to return to the U.S. to register to vote. Married women who have changed their surnames would not be allowed to use their birth certificate to prove their citizenship. Twenty-one million eligible voters would need to pay significant fees to obtain documentation needed to cast their ballot," continues the joint statement.

“Adding unnecessary and expensive barriers to vote will disenfranchise millions of U.S. citizens and disproportionately impact the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. A majority of Asian American eligible voters are naturalized citizens who may lack immediate access to documentation required under this restrictive law.

“Moreover, President Trump is curtailing language access for individuals with Limited English Proficiency—making up one-third of the AANHPI community—which may affect multilingual assistance in voter registration. He also signed an executive order that would prevent Americans from using their birth certificate to register to vote—an apparent reference to his unlawful order revoking birthright citizenship. These are extreme measures that will suppress AANHPI participation in our elections.

“To be clear, it is already illegal under federal law for noncitizens to cast a ballot. This legislation is not about safeguarding elections; it is a blatant assault on the constitutional rights of millions of Americans."

If that is not enough, voting rights groups have said the bill will pose a barrier for millions of American women and others who have changed their legal name because of marriage, assimilation to sound more "American," citizenshp or to better align with their gender identity. An estimated 69 million American women and 4 million men do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.

“Many eligible voters including those in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community do not have readily available documents to meet SAVE Act requirements.," says Christine Chen, Executive Director of APIAVote.

"Furthermore, our communities rely on methods such as online, mail and voter registration drives, and this draconian measure would effectively end those options," says Chen. "With the bill passing in the House today, the battle now shifts to the Senate where we will be working hard to make sure that our Senators know this bill that will prevent eligible voters from casting their ballot.."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.