Do nearly 1 in 10 Americans lack the ID the SAVE America Act would require to vote?

Democrats opposing the Trump-backed SAVE America Act say if the legislation passes, millions of Americans will lack the documents needed to register to vote and cast a ballot.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a March 18 X post, "9% of American citizens don't have the identification that the SAVE act requires to vote. Almost 1 in 10. This is a voter suppression bill."

The bill, formally named the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, passed the House in February. The Senate began debating the legislation March 17; it does not appear to have the 60 votes needed to pass.

Duckworth’s statement comes from credible research organizations and is largely accurate but needs context. When contacted for comment, her spokesperson pointed to data about proof of citizenship. 

SAVE America Act requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote

Before casting ballots, people must register to vote. The SAVE America Act says people must present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, and it lists options including a passport or REAL ID driver’s license that indicates citizenship. However, REAL IDs offered by most states do not show citizenship status.

A handful of states offer the option of an enhanced ID that shows citizenship. Michigan, for example, has offered such IDs since 2008. About 2 million of Michigan’s 8.3 million driver’s license and state ID holders currently have this enhanced identification.

Nationwide, people can also register to vote with a government-issued ID plus a birth certificate or naturalization certificate.

Duckworth’s spokesperson pointed to a 2023 national survey by the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland and voting rights groups, including the Brennan Center for Justice. 

The survey asked 2,400 U.S. citizen adults if they had various federal government documents — a passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship. If the respondents indicated they did have one of these items, the pollsters asked if it was "in a place where you could quickly find it if you had to show it tomorrow."

Just over 9% — or 21.3 million people when applied to the entire U.S. citizen adult population — either did not have or could not readily access documentary proof of citizenship, the survey concluded. The survey didn’t drill down into why some people couldn’t access them, but Michael J. Hanmer, a University of Maryland professor who oversaw the survey, said that some people hold the documents in another location. For example, college students may have birth certificates at their parents’ homes, and older Americans may have their documents stored at an adult child’s home.

SAVE America Act requires a government photo ID to cast a ballot

States administer elections and set laws, including on voter ID. The majority of states require some type of ID to vote while others use different methods to verify eligibility. The SAVE America Act would set standard rules nationwide.

The legislation requires that people show nonexpired government-issued photo IDs to cast ballots. That could include a driver’s license, state ID, passport, military ID or ID issued by a tribal government. Student IDs, which some states currently allow, would be banned under the bill.

On government ID, the survey that Duckworth’s spokesperson pointed to found just under 9%, or 20.8 million people, did not have a nonexpired driver’s license. 

Black and Hispanic Americans were less likely to have a current driver’s license compared with white people. People ages 18 to 24, and those with less education or income, were also less likely than other groups to have a nonexpired driver’s license.

The survey was not specifically of registered voters. But another survey targeted voters, asking about their IDs. The 2024 Survey of the Performance of American Elections showed that 97% of voters surveyed said they had a driver’s license. Eighty-five percent said "yes" when asked if their driver’s license was unexpired, showed the same name under which the voter was registered to vote, and displayed the same address where the voter was registered..

Legislation stemmed from falsehoods about voter fraud

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his top domestic priority. It follows years of his voter fraud falsehoods.

Voter fraud is rare, including voter impersonation. In 2016, we found that people were more likely to be struck by lightning than to impersonate someone else at the polls.

We found anecdotal examples of people who cast mail ballots in the name of dead relatives, but the numbers are too small to affect a statewide election’s outcome. Cases of noncitizens voting are rare, too. If they vote, noncitizens risk deportation, fines or jail. When people register to vote, they sign a form attesting that they are U.S. citizens. Noncitizen voting is already banned in federal elections.

Many Republican-led states are using federal data to look for noncitizens on their voter rolls. They are finding small numbers. Utah, for example, found only one confirmed noncitizen who never cast a ballot. 

Our ruling

Duckworth said, "9% of American citizens don't have the identification that the SAVE act requires to vote. Almost 1 in 10."

The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot.

A 2023 national survey — of U.S. adult citizens, not exclusively voters — found 9% of adult U.S. citizens either did not have or could not readily access documentary proof of citizenship. Duckworth left out context that some of the respondents have the documents but don’t have easy access to them.

Nine percent of survey respondents also lacked a nonexpired driver’s license.

We rate this statement Mostly True.

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