House requires birth certificates to vote despite 21 million lacking them

H.R.22 (the SAVE Act) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Apr. 10, 2025 by a vote of 220–208 (Question 1; sources: Congress.gov, Nonprofit VOTE).

University of Maryland research finds that 21.3 million voting-age Americans lack easy access to proof-of-citizenship documents such as birth certificates or passports (Question 2; sources: Bipartisan Policy Center, Campaign Legal Center).

Kansas’s 2013 citizenship-verification law cost state taxpayers millions of dollars and blocked over 30,000 registrants from federal elections—even though 99% of those blocked were U.S. citizens (Question 4; source: Institute for Responsive Government).

The SAVE Act would eliminate online voter registration nationwide; 8 million Americans used online registration in 2022 (Questions 7 & 14; source: Center for American Progress).

The law creates a private right of action allowing any citizen to sue election officials for processing voter registration applications lacking proper citizenship documentation (Question 12; source: Institute for Responsive Government).

Under the SAVE Act, election officials risk up to five years in federal prison for accepting incomplete registration applications without required proof of citizenship (Question 8; source: Congress.gov).

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is the sponsor of H.R.22, introducing the SAVE Act in the 119th Congress (Question 5; source: GovTrack.us).

Existing federal law already requires voters to attest to citizenship under penalty of perjury on the standard federal registration form (Question 13; source: Bipartisan Policy Center).

The SAVE Act contains no exemption for voters who lost documents in natural disasters such as floods, fires, or hurricanes (Question 19; source: League of Women Voters).

Even minor updates to registration—such as address or party affiliation changes—would demand in-person proof-of-citizenship under the SAVE Act (Question 20; source: Center for American Progress).