The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act was passed by the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 218-213 on Feb. 11, with one Democrat breaking party lines to vote to pass the bill. The bill will now be considered by the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass before going to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. 

The SAVE America Act places new changes on voting requirements for federal elections ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The bill would require citizens registering to vote to bring documents that prove citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate. If passed, it would restrict mail-in voting and it would also require voters to bring photo identification to their polling location on election day. 

North Carolina voters are already asked to present a photo ID when voting in-person or by mail-in ballots, but if they do not have one, they are still able to vote. If a person does not have a photo ID, they must fill out an ID exception form. 

To register to vote, North Carolinians are currently not required to provide citizenship documents. Citizens registering to vote do have to provide their North Carolina drivers license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. A recent agreement between the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee permits over 70,000 North Carolina voters who had incomplete registrations to stay on the voter roll. 

Professor of political science at Appalachian State University, William Hicks, said if the bill were passed, he thinks it would not disrupt or change any of the voting procedures in North Carolina. Hicks said this law would create more uniformity in voting laws across the country.

“We have some situations where we've passed federal legislation that creates more uniformity. Having said that, this attempt by the Trump administration is an attempt that would clearly do more of that,” Hicks said. “They want to have more power to establish more finite rules, more specific rules, that would limit the flexibility of states to govern themselves.”

In a 2022 Gallup poll, a majority of Americans supported requiring voters to show photo ID at their polling location to vote. 97% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats expressed support for this measure. 

“Political scientists like to point out that these positions when it comes to voting rules —  Democrats wanting more lenient inclusive voting rules, and Republicans wanting more restrictive and stringent voting rules — are also things that those parties view strategically as things that would benefit them in elections, meaning Democrats believe if turnout is higher that they will perform better, and Republicans believe if turnout is lower, that they will perform better,” Hicks said.

In the past, Trump has called to nationalize voting, which would have the federal government take over administering elections, something state governments currently do. The state shapes what rules and regulations citizens must follow in order to vote. The Constitution requires a decentralized voting system. 

“State governments have rules, and they have power over what elections look like for both state and federal offices,” Hicks said. “One of the things that we tend to forget is that our elections kind of function or filter through our state governments, even our presidential election.”

If the bill is passed by the Senate, states would have to alter their voting procedures, something Hicks said may not affect North Carolina as much as other states. 

“I really don't see a big change for a state like North Carolina, because North Carolina has already adopted restrictive voter ID,” Hicks said. “What I do think is it would be a pretty massive change for a state that doesn't operate the same way.”