Can voters use Real ID to satisfy SAVE Act voting rules, as Byron Daniels said? Not in 44 states.

Responding to concerns about a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote, some Republicans have said an eligible voter needs only a Real ID. 

But in 44 states, that’s not a solution. 

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, passed the U.S. House on April 10 by a 220-208 vote. A priority of Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, it would require in-person proof of citizenship, such as a U.S. passport or a combination of a driver's license and birth certificate, to register to vote.

Republicans say the SAVE Act — which has a high 60-vote hurdle to clear in the Senate — is necessary to ensure that noncitizens don’t vote in U.S. elections. Federal laws already prohibit noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and cases of noncitizens voting are extremely rare.

Democrats denounced the bill as a threat to voting rights, criticizing the required paperwork as burdensome; about half of Americans don’t have passports, for example. Republicans accused Democrats of exaggerating the burden.

"To the people who are concerned about married women being able to register (to vote) there's this thing in the United States, every state does it now, called Real ID," said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., in an April 10 NewsNation interview. "As long as you have a Real ID, which virtually every American has to have today, it should be easy for you to register to vote." 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and several social media users made similar statements about Real IDs allowing people to travel and vote. 

Real IDs are federally compliant, state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards that require documentation including a Social Security card and proof of citizenship or legal immigration status to obtain. Congress passed a 2005 law requiring state-issued IDs to meet federal minimum security standards following a 9/11 Commission recommendation.

A Real ID card is typically marked with a black or gold star. About 56% of American IDs were Real ID compliant in January 2024, but many people are rushing to get Real IDs before a May 7 deadline after which a non-Real ID driver’s license, for example, will not be sufficient to board domestic flights. (Some states, such as Illinois, are saying "Real ID can wait" because of high demand.)

However, not every Real ID meets SAVE Act requirements to prove citizenship. The SAVE Act accepts only Real IDs that indicate whether a person is a citizen, which most do not.

Further, Real IDs can be issued to noncitizens with lawful status, including permanent residence, temporary protected status, refugees, asylum applicants and people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Homeland Security Department’s website says. 

Five states — Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington — offer a version of Real ID that indicates whether a person is a U.S. citizen, called an enhanced driver’s license. These licenses are offered at an additional fee, so not every Real ID in those states is compliant with the SAVE Act. Homeland Security officials have been working since 2008 to bring the enhanced ID program to all states. 

One more state, Idaho, in 2023 began offering IDs with an optional citizenship marker, although it’s unclear whether all are Real ID compliant. 

Roughly 14% of the U.S. population lives in those six states. Florida, where Donalds is running for governor, does not show citizenship on its Real ID. 

PolitiFact found no evidence that the remaining states issue Real IDs that comply with the citizenship proof required by the SAVE Act. 

Thirty-six states already have some form of voter ID law requiring identity verification at the polls, but the SAVE Act would implement hurdles in every state at an earlier step — voter registration. For most states, that is new terrain. 

"There is only one state in the U.S., Arizona, that has experience with proof-of-citizenship to register to vote," said Lori Minnite, a Rutgers University political science professor and expert in voter fraud. 

For state and local elections, Arizona accepts state IDs as proof of citizenship after comparing the driver’s license number to existing information in its Department of Transportation database. The physical IDs are no different than those issued to noncitizens. It is unclear whether such an ID, only distinguishable from a noncitizen ID when referenced against internal state data, would count as "indicating" citizenship under the SAVE Act.

The SAVE Act’s author, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, acknowledged in a recent hearing on the bill that only a few states offer compliant licenses, and he hoped more would follow: "We believe, right, that the structure is put in place now that allow — I think there’s at least five states that do have the citizenship status as part of the Real ID — encourage more states to do so, right? That would be part of the goal here."

In 2023, Ohio passed a law to offer enhanced driver's licenses, but it is not yet accepting applications. Iowa and Montana are considering bills to add a citizenship marker on IDs. 

Neither Donalds nor Roy responded to requests for comment.  

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TikTok posts

stated on March 25, 2025 in una publicación en TikTok

A partir del 28 de febrero “para comprar en supermercados pedirán tu identificación, pero no es por seguridad, es para cazar inmigrantes ilegales”.

Beyond Real ID, other ways to verify identity pose challenges

For the majority of Americans who don’t live in Idaho or one of the few states with enhanced IDs, the SAVE Act says they can prove citizenship with a valid U.S. passport; a military ID card and a military service record showing place of birth; or a government issued photo-ID that shows place of birth.

Those documents, or a Real ID that indicates citizenship, are the only ones that can prove citizenship on their own under the bill. Without one of those, a person must show a driver’s license or identification along with another document showing birthplace, such as a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, consular report of birth abroad or final adoption decree.

All documents must be presented in person. 

Any mismatch between documents and someone’s current identification cards could disrupt voter registration. Mismatches are common for people who change their names following marriage.

In the same hearing, Roy said the SAVE Act would not affect people currently registered to vote. 

He added: "If they have an intervening event or if the states want to clean the rolls, people would come forward to register to demonstrate their citizenship so we could convert our system over some reasonable time to a citizenship-based registration system."

Jonathan Diaz, director of voting, advocacy and partnerships at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization that supports voting rights, said he believes the SAVE Act would apply to any updates to current registration or reregistration. 

As prominent Democrats warned that the bill would make voting harder for millions of married women, SAVE Act supporters said the bill addresses the needs of people with name changes by leaving it up to the states to decide what documentation would be required to resolve document discrepancies. It directs each state to "establish a process under which an applicant can provide such additional documentation" to establish citizenship if the person’s documents don’t include matching information.

Minnite called this language ambiguous: "Could a married woman who does not have a passport and who changed her name use a marriage certificate to prove her citizenship? The SAVE Act is not clear."

Diaz said, "Different states could have different standards and different degrees of proof needed, which will be really hard for voters to navigate."

Our ruling 

Donalds said under the SAVE Act, "as long as you have a Real ID … it should be easy for you to register to vote." Most Real IDs are not compliant with the citizenship proof required under the SAVE Act. PolitiFact identified just six states that offer Real IDs that show citizenship, and five of them require an additional fee for that type. 

People living in the remaining 44 states would need other forms of documentation to register to vote under the SAVE Act, such as a U.S. passport, a military service ID and record, or a birth certificate with a drivers license. 

Donalds’ statement has an element of truth because in a handful of states, people have access to Real IDs that would be sufficient to register to vote under the SAVE Act. But he ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate the statement Mostly False.

PolitiFact staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.