How the SAVE Act Could Cost Millions the Right to Vote
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Find Out podcast. We have two big things for you today, but we're going to focus on one right now, and then we'll come back to the next one. We are very fortunate to have Congresswoman Lauren Underwood with us. She is a Democrat from Illinois' 14th district and is a big champion of health care as a nurse, I believe, registered nurse. That's right. Registered nurse. So but we want to dive into a topic today that is on everyone's mind, and that is the SAVE Act. And you have been talking a lot about this bill that the Republicans barely passed in the House. And, you know, we're seeing a lot of people online saying, like, well, what's the big deal? Everyone's got an I.D.
Can you walk us through why this bill is so will be such a voter suppression bill if it were to pass the Senate and signed by the president? Sure. So the SAVE Act, which has recently come back to the House as the SAVE America Act, is a brutal voter suppression bill that would disenfranchise over 69 million American women whose current name does not match their birth certificate. So what this piece of legislation would do is require either a birth certificate or a passport. in order to register to vote, and your name would need to match those documents exactly. And then you would also need an ID to actually vote, right? Because registering and voting are two separate actions. The most recent bill that came before us in the House also would require states to turn over the voter rolls to Kristi Noem.
It is outrageous. And so the reason I'm trying to let folks know what's going on is that the Republicans have already tried this. They tried it last year.
What is the SAVE Act and why is it controversial?
They tried it in the last Congress. But what has changed is that the Freedom Caucus has gone to Donald Trump and has told Donald Trump that it is time for him to get rid of the filibuster. in order to pass the Save Act or Save America Act through the Senate, which means they are desperate. They know that they are losing in 2026. Their redistricting scheme did not work. And now they are trying to snatch away the right to vote from tens of millions of Americans. Yeah, and just to be clear, because there's one piece of here that really affects all Americans, particularly women who are married and taking their husband's name. So if you have not gotten a new passport or new identification, if that bill were to pass tomorrow—
you would not be allowed to vote, correct? You have to go through the process of getting a passport or some other form of ID, which of course costs money, which I would argue is a full tax. It's not some other form of ID. That's what I'm saying, Tim. It's the passport or your birth certificate. And as you know, when you get- The real IDs don't count, right? And then you would have to bring your marriage certificate showing the change of name to the election office in order to update your address or update your registration. No, because the marriage certificate is not an acceptable form of ID. It's that birth certificate or the passport. And as you know, passports are not free. 160 bucks. So do you have to get it?
You would have to. So if let's just go through this. If a woman is married, she has changed her name, but she is either not registered to vote or she moved. She needs to update her voter registration information. What does she have to do? She has to get a new passport with her married name on it or a new
How does the SAVE Act potentially disenfranchise millions?
If she's got a birth certificate, then how does she connect the dots between that and her photo ID, which has her married name? Right. So it's about what you're registered to vote as. OK, so let's say she's registered to vote as Pat as Patti Smith, but her name is now Patti Jones. Right. She needs a passport that says Patti Jones or she needs a birth certificate that says Patti Jones. That marriage certificate is wonderful. It's beautiful. It's a document that recognizes that beautiful, glorious union. But that is not enough for her to be able to vote. Keep it framed over the live, laugh, love poster. It's not doing shit here, apparently.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:38
2
What is the SAVE Act and why is it controversial?
1:38–3:22
3
How does the SAVE Act potentially disenfranchise millions?
3:22–4:52
4
What are the specific requirements for voter registration under the SAVE Act?
4:52–8:30
5
How does the SAVE Act affect women who change their names?
8:30–21:55
6
Is the SAVE Act essentially a modern-day poll tax?
21:55–24:13
7
What are the economic implications of the SAVE Act for voters?
24:13–34:51
8
How do Republicans view the SAVE Act amidst electoral challenges?
34:51–49:05