What is the best way to make sure that everyone who registers to vote in U.S. elections is an American citizen?
Congress is bitterly divided over this question – and so is the Maryland delegation.
The SAVE America Act would require actual documentation of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. People would also have to provide photo identification on election day.
President Donald Trump’s administration backs this bill. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), Maryland’s lone Republican member of Congress, has voiced strong support for the bill.
“Maryland has no voter photo ID requirement currently – and that’s why election integrity is questioned in Maryland,” Harris told Capital News Service.
However, Maryland Democrats disagree with Harris’s view – including U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.) McClain Delaney expressed concerns about Republicans’ motivations.
“Let’s be clear: non-citizen voting is already illegal in federal elections. Republicans know that,” McClain Delaney said in a press release.
McClain Delaney said that “Republicans are prioritizing their own political survival.” Midterm elections are coming later in 2026.
Currently, Maryland voters aren’t required to prove identity on election day, but need to do so when registering to vote. Valid forms of identification to register include a driver’s license and a state ID card. Voters can also identify themselves with their Social Security number and must provide the last 4 digits when doing so.
In Maryland, a voter attests under the penalties of perjury that they are a U.S. citizen and meet the eligibility requirements to vote, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Maryland voters must tell the election judge their name, address and date of birth before voting. Additionally, challengers and watchers from candidates and parties monitor the voting process. They can challenge someone’s right to vote based on identity.
Currently, the guidelines of voter identification differ among states. But every state requires voters to declare themselves as U.S. citizens.
The tensions within the country about this bill stem from discrepancies from state to state in laws on how citizenship and identification are proved when voting. This issue has also been heightened over the past few years due to several claims by Trump and other Republicans of ‘illegal aliens’ voting in federal elections.
“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act, to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections,” Trump said in his recent State of the Union speech.
The SAVE America Act would prohibit states from accepting voter registrations unless proof of citizenship is provided. The act would also specify which documents are acceptable for voting. It would also require states to have individuals register to vote and establish clear procedures to show the documentation.
As the SAVE Act works its way through Congress, questions of the importance of identification in federal elections remain contentious.
“It’s very simple. All voters must show voter ID,” Trump said in the State of the Union. “All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote.”