Sponsors (50)
Official title: Amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 29, 2026 by Mike Lee · Last progress January 29, 2026
The bill increases identity and citizenship verification to strengthen election integrity and uniformity, but does so in ways that raise costs, privacy and litigation risks, and new practical barriers that could disenfranchise low-income, elderly, disabled, and immigrant voters.
All voters and election officials: strengthens identity and citizenship checks at registration and at the polling place, reducing the risk of noncitizen registrations and some in-person impersonation.
State and local election administrators and applicants without standard documents: establishes uniform federal ID standards and an EAC affidavit/process so jurisdictions have consistent rules and an alternate pathway for applicants who lack typical documentation.
Previously verified registrants and election officials: requires quicker data-sharing and allows reliance on prior SAVE verifications (with periodic SAVE use), which can speed resolution of eligibility questions and avoid repeated documentary demands for already-verified people.
Low-income people, seniors, people with disabilities, immigrants, and naturalized citizens: increases practical barriers to registering and voting by requiring in-person documentary proof for many registrations, stricter photo-ID rules at the polls, tangible-only ID requirements, and ID copies for absentee ballots — raising the risk of turned-away or rejected voters.
State and local governments and taxpayers: imposes new administrative, technical, and compliance costs (tight implementation deadlines, SAVE quarterly submissions/annotations, and system upgrades) and raises privacy concerns from expanded citizenship-data sharing.
Election officials and jurisdictions: expands private-rights litigation by allowing suits against officials who register applicants lacking documentary proof, increasing legal risk, potential liability, and defensive administrative behavior.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Mandates photo ID for federal voting and creates a statutory test for documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for registration and voting.
Requires every person voting in a federal election to present an eligible photo ID and tightens what counts as documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Changes the National Voter Registration Act definitions and record requirements, creates a SAVE-system verification exception for States that perform regular SAVE checks, and imposes new pre-voting citizenship-confirmation steps for jurisdictions without formal voter registration systems. Applies immediately to federal elections after enactment and places new duties on states, local election officials, and voters to produce specified documents or use SAVE verification. It also removes or replaces certain prior list-maintenance language in federal law.