Sponsors (8)
The bill standardizes and tightens ID and citizenship-document requirements to make voter eligibility verification more uniform and secure, but it raises significant risks of disenfranchising eligible voters, increases costs and administrative strain on election offices, and creates privacy and due-process concerns that could chill voter assistance.
All voters and election officials get a clear, uniform list of acceptable identity and citizenship documents (driver's license/state ID, passport, military ID, Tribal ID, REAL ID), reducing confusion at registration and polling places and making rules more consistent across states.
People with standard federal IDs (REAL ID, U.S. passport, military ID) can use those documents to register and vote, simplifying the process for military personnel, veterans, and others who already hold such IDs.
Applicants who lack primary documentary proof of citizenship have an alternative attestation-and-official-review pathway to register, which reduces the risk of disenfranchisement for people without historical records.
Low-income people, immigrants, and others without ready documentary proof of citizenship may be prevented from registering for federal elections because most applicants must present such documents, increasing the risk of eligible voters being excluded.
State and local election offices will face increased administrative and fiscal burdens — collecting and verifying citizenship documents, implementing ID checks, providing copying/scanning access, and updating notices and systems — which will raise costs for governments and taxpayers and may strain offices during implementation.
Mandatory submission of voter records to DHS/SAVE, removal of registrants flagged as noncitizens, expanded private lawsuits, and criminal penalties for assisting noncitizens raising privacy, accuracy, and due-process concerns and creating a chilling effect on nonprofits and volunteers who help register voters.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires specified documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for registration and requires a valid photo ID (with narrow cure rules) to vote in federal elections.
Introduced April 9, 2025 by Richard Lynn Scott · Last progress February 11, 2026
Requires people who register to vote to provide specified "documentary proof of United States citizenship" and requires voters in federal elections to present a physical photo ID to vote in person (or meet narrow alternative procedures). The bill lists specific primary and alternative documents that count as proof of citizenship, creates rules for certified copies and attestations when primary documents are unavailable, and changes the evidentiary standard used under federal voter-registration law. For in-person federal elections the bill requires presentation of a valid photo ID; voters without an ID may cast a provisional ballot but generally must cure within three days by presenting the ID or a state affidavit claiming a religious objection to being photographed. Mail/absentee voters must submit a copy of a photo ID or provide the last four digits of their Social Security number plus a state affidavit that they tried to obtain an ID. The measure includes limited exemptions, a requirement that states provide public access to copying devices at government buildings where practicable, and a deadline for the Election Assistance Commission to issue recommendations about the new rules.