NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Steve Hobbs
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell and Sec. of State Steve Hobbs will attend tomorrow’s State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C., to highlight the SAVE America Act, a bill that, if passed, would disenfranchise thousands of voters across the United States, just before the 2026 elections.
“Election access and security are not competing values,” Hobbs said in a Feb. 23 statement. “Washington has long made voting accessible while also protecting the integrity of the system and the personal information voters entrust to their government.”
The bill, which the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed last year and that the U.S. Senate is considering, allegedly targets illegal voting by non-citizens. Nationalizing voting may be unconstitutional.
However, voter fraud is rare, and the bill imposes hurdles that would make it harder for eligible voters to participate in elections. Some experts have speculated that—in addition to his repeated attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results—President Donald Trump is attempting to head off a midterm election that may see Republicans lose substantial ground.
The bill requires proof of residence and proof of citizenship through documentation that includes birth certificates, a passport, or a naturalization certificate. It also requires a photo ID to vote. In the Senate’s version, voters must show all of this documentation both upon registration and then again upon voting, unless their state has handed over voter rolls to the federal government.
Not only do such pieces of documentation require a verification of authenticity—a complex process—but not everyone has those pieces of documentation.
“In 2024, nearly half of the 900,000 motor voter registrations processed didn’t include documentary proof of citizenship—something the SAVE Act would now require. That could block or delay eligible voters from participating in federal elections,” Hobbs said in an August 2025 statement, following the House’s passage of the act. “This act would also make it harder for many eligible voters—such as seniors, college students, active-duty military, adoptees, and tribal members—who may be less likely to have documentary proof of citizenship readily available at the time of registration, potentially creating barriers to participation.”
Moreover, in the case of birth certificates, if someone took their spouse’s last name, they could not prove that they were who they said they were, and would be barred from voting.
The bill would also prohibit mail-in voting, which would mean that those who do not have reliable transportation to a polling office could not participate in elections. Washington state uses mail-in voting, and the system has shown no evidence of voter fraud.
If passed, officials would be forced to purge voter rolls every 30 days. In addition to people mistakenly being purged right before elections, the Brennan Center for Justice argues that this places an enormous burden on public officials.
Late last month, the federal government seized Georgia voter rolls, claiming it was searching for fraud. This may be unconstitutional. The Department of Justice is suing to obtain 44 states’ voter rolls, also claiming widespread fraud, despite no evidence of this.
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