President Donald Trump is advocating for the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, and threatening an executive order to impose stricter voting rules. These measures, tied to claims of foreign election interference, could complicate registration and voting for the 2026 midterms. Election law expert Rick Hasen warns they would disenfranchise millions without addressing actual fraud.
In a recent NPR interview, UCLA law professor Rick Hasen discussed President Trump's efforts to tighten voting access. Trump is promoting the SAVE Act, passed by the House and pending in the Senate, which mandates documentary proof of citizenship—such as a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization certificate—for voter registration. This goes beyond typical voter ID, requiring re-registration for many Americans and potentially blocking millions, as seen in Kansas where a similar 2010s law halted 30,000 registrations, with over 99% eligible.
Trump has threatened an executive order if Congress does not act, drawing from a draft by election deniers. The proposed order, linked to conspiracy theories of foreign interference in the 2020 and 2024 elections by entities like China and Iran, would limit registration to in-person or mail methods, ban online options, impose national ID standards at polls, require database matching for citizenship, alter mail ballot timelines, eliminate most absentee voting, and shift lawsuits to federal courts. Hasen noted these changes target the 2026 elections but face constitutional hurdles under Article 1, Section 4, which assigns election regulation to states and Congress, not the president.
Courts have blocked prior Trump orders, including one from August requiring citizenship proof on federal forms, with injunctions and permanent halts issued. Hasen emphasized fraud's rarity: only about 30 possible noncitizen voting cases in 2016 nationwide, compared to disenfranchisement risks. In his State of the Union, Trump called for the SAVE America Act to enforce voter ID, citizenship proof, and restrict mail-in ballots except for specific cases, claiming 89% public support—though polls favor general ID, not stringent documentation.
Hasen, founder of the Election Law Blog and director of UCLA's Safeguarding Democracy Project, described these moves as authoritarian threats to democracy, echoing post-2020 denialism. A related Supreme Court case, Louisiana v. Callais, challenges Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, potentially weakening minority representation in districts. Hasen advocates a constitutional amendment guaranteeing voting rights, absent in the current U.S. framework.
