Hillary Clinton’s Objections To The SAVE Act Are Myths

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which I proudly co-authored with my friend, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. The SAVE Act passed the House on a bipartisan basis, an inconvenient fact for Democrat leaders’ chosen narrative attacking it. 

Perhaps the most absurd narrative peddled from the left, including twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is that the SAVE Act will somehow disenfranchise married women, or anyone else who has changed his or her name, from voting in federal elections. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. The SAVE Act secures all Americans’ votes by ensuring noncitizens do not vote in federal elections, effectively canceling out the votes of citizens, including married women.

The SAVE Act, a common-sense proposal widely supported by the American people, simply amends the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to require documentary proof of citizenship to register individuals to vote in federal elections.

Those opposed to the SAVE Act have hurled wild accusations against the bill, comparing it to a “poll tax” or “Jim Crow 2.0.” This is nothing new; virtually every state that has passed election integrity laws has faced backlash from left-wing Democrats decrying the measures as racist. This ignores the fact that, for example, in Georgia, voting increased after the state implemented voter integrity measures. 

The left loves nothing more than invoking tiresome rhetorical tactics involving race or sex to stir up controversy against common-sense proposals. But Clinton’s argument that the SAVE Act will disenfranchise married women is not grounded in reality, and here’s why.

First, married women who have changed their name and already registered to vote — millions, mind you — are utterly unaffected by the SAVE Act. The so-called “69 million married women” figure is a statistical sleight of hand meant to purposefully ignite fear and conveniently glosses over this critical fact. As my friend Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., rightly pointed out during the House floor debate, this is a non-issue for those women, rendering the panic-peddling not just misleading but outright false. 

Second, for individuals who have changed their name and already updated their documentary proof of citizenship to reflect this, no action is needed, and they can register to vote.

For the small fraction of individuals who have not updated their documentation to reflect a name change — though most do so quickly for general life purposes such as an I-9 form for employment, passport to travel, and Social Security card for taxes — the SAVE Act explicitly directs states to establish a process allowing them to register to vote despite a name discrepancy. The SAVE Act specifically left this to the states because name-change procedures are governed by state law, and the specific requirements, forms, fees, and processes can vary from state to state. 

No one will be unable to vote because of a name change.

The truth? Democrats want noncitizens to vote in America’s elections. Municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. Last year, 143 Democrats voted to continue to allow noncitizens to vote in Washington, D.C., elections. 

Some wrongly claim the SAVE Act is a solution in search of a problem, but noncitizens are indeed voting in our federal elections. Last year, Ohio’s grand juries indicted six people for illegally voting. In 2018, 19 foreign nationals were indicted for illegally voting in the 2016 elections, and just this year, prosecutors in the swing state of Michigan charged a Chinese national with voter fraud and perjury after he allegedly voted in the 2024 election. 

Not to mention, state after state has found noncitizens on its voter rolls. President Biden and congressional Democrats’ open-border policies — which have resulted in 18.6 million illegal aliens residing in the United States — have consequences. 

Noncitizen voting has affected election outcomes. Remember in 2020, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, won her congressional race by just six votes, Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., won by 109 votes, Biden won Arizona by 10,000 votes, Georgia by fewer than 13,000, and Wisconsin by fewer than 21,000. And federal law has been interpreted to prohibit states from checking citizenship. The SAVE Act fixes that.

We did our job by passing the SAVE Act. House Republicans are making necessary changes to the NVRA. Without it, states will continue to be barred from securing their elections. The Senate must do its job, take up, pass, and send H.R. 22 to President Trump for approval. Fair and free elections are the bedrock of our nation. We have a duty to secure American elections for American citizens, including for married women, whom the left shamefully and falsely claims this disenfranchises.

Chip Roy is the Republican representative for the 21st congressional district in Texas.