In recent years, the interrelated issues of election integrity, proof of US citizenship, and photo ID to vote have become raging topics.
The topic has become so mainstream that pop icon Nicki Minaj has called on her huge fan base to push for passage of the SAVE Act and its requirement for Photo ID to vote.
On Wednesday, February 11, the House of Representatives passed the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility” Act, better known as the SAVE Act.
The SAVE Act requires documentary proof of US citizenship when registering to vote and photo ID at polling places. For mail-in ballots, a copy of the Photo ID must be included.
In the closely-divided House, the measure passed 218-213. All the Republicans voted for it, joined by a lone Democrat, Henry Cuellar of Texas.
The bill now moves to the Senate, which, like the House, has a narrow GOP majority. As of February 12, 49 Republican senators have expressed support for it, and Vice President JD Vance can provide one vote in the case of a tie. A possible passage with 51 votes will only be possible if the Senate also scraps its current filibuster rule that requires 60 votes to pass the measure.
The Roanoke Star reached out to the offices of Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA6) and Democrat Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine for their statements on the SAVE Act.
No responses have been received from Sen. Warner or Rep. Cline as of publication time, but a spokesperson for Sen. Kaine emailed this initial response.
“Kaine opposes the SAVE Act because it puts unnecessary obstacles in the path of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.”
When The Roanoke Star asked for more details as to “unnecessary obstacles,” the spokesperson emailed again: “On background, approximately 1 in 10 U.S. citizens 18 or older, or 21 million eligible voters, do not have easy access to their birth certificates, passports, or naturalization/citizenship certificates, which this legislation would require.”
Currently, one Democrat Senator has expressed support for the SAVE Act. Sen. John Fetterman says, “I do not believe that it’s unreasonable to show an ID to vote.”
CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, recently explained the results of a new Pew poll. It found 83% of those surveyed supported the requirement of photo ID to vote. Breaking down the numbers further, 95% of Republicans, 71% of Democrats, and 85% of whites support it.
Opponents often claim that requiring documentation to register to vote will discourage or disenfranchise non-whites, especially from voting, but CNN’s Enten discovered 82% of Hispanics and 76% of blacks support the Photo ID requirement.
Moreover, as some have pointed out, Photo ID is required to do many things in modern-day American life.
A non-exhaustive list includes including buying alcohol or tobacco; opening a bank account or even making some bank transactions; applying for food stamps, welfare, unemployment benefits, Medicaid, and Social Security; renting or buying a car or a house; boarding an airplane; getting married; purchasing a gun; adopting a pet; applying for a hunting or fishing license; renting a hotel room; buying a cell phone; picking up prescription medication; visiting a casino; donating blood, etc.
On February 11, Elon Musk tweeted on his personal Twitter/X page for the SAVE Act in this way:
“For those fools/liars who say it is racist to require ID to vote (it obviously is not), why do majority Black countries require ID to vote?”
Opponents of the SAVE Act often mentioned that persons in the US illegally seldom, if ever, vote anyway, so it’s not an issue.
However, Jose “Joe” Ceballos, the former mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, made national headlines in December 2025, shortly after his re-election, when it was revealed that he is a green card holder and Mexican citizen. Not only is Ceballos not a US citizen, but he has been voting in US elections since the 1990s and has been serving as an elected official.
Since both houses of Congress are so closely divided, many elections are decided by wafer-thin margins, and Congressional midterms are this November, the issue of who can legally vote is incredibly crucial.
– Scott Dreyer
