New Federal Election Bills Would Undercut State Authority, Disenfranchise Voters, and Burden Election Officials

Two new federal election bills threaten to undermine states’ authority and hurt voters and election officials. These bills — the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act and the SAVE America Act — would significantly expand federal control over elections; impose sweeping, unfunded mandates on state and local election officials; and make it significantly harder for eligible Americans to register and cast a ballot.

“At their core, these bills are a partisan attempt to dictate how states run elections,” Issue One Policy Director Michael McNulty said. “Introduced amid federal pressure on states for private voter data, President Trump’s call for Republicans to ‘nationalize’ elections, and the FBI’s raid of the Fulton County election office, they raise serious concerns about political interference in elections that are meant to be run by states and local officials.”

McNulty added: “These proposed bills could keep hundreds of thousands of Americans from casting ballots in our elections. They would impose documentary proof of citizenship and strict photo ID requirements for both in-person and mail voting. The bills go even further than the deeply flawed SAVE Act, and they would not strengthen election security. Instead, they would disrupt election administration, make it harder for eligible voters to participate, and inject federal overreach into a system that is best run by states and local election professionals.”

McNulty continued, “Millions of eligible citizens—especially seniors, married women who changed their last name, naturalized citizens, and low-income Americans—lack ready access to documentary proof of citizenship. This requirement would disenfranchise eligible voters while diverting scarce resources away from other measures that could more meaningfully improve election security.”

The legislation would also ban universal vote-by-mail for federal elections, which is currently used successfully in eight states and the District of Columbia and would discard ballots that are not received by Election Day, even if postmarked before Election Day.

“Eliminating proven voting options and throwing out ballots does not make elections more secure,” McNulty added. “It makes them less accessible, less resilient, and less trusted.”

Issue One also raised concern about new restrictions on federal funding for elections and civil liability. “Requiring the Attorney General to certify federal funds for administering elections and letting individual voters sue election officials over minor technicalities would risk paralyzing state and local election offices,” McNulty said.

“Congress should be focused on supporting election officials, modernizing infrastructure, and expanding access to secure and fair elections,” McNulty concluded. “We urge lawmakers of both parties to reject these bills and instead work on solutions that strengthen — not undermine — free, fair, and secure elections for every eligible American.”

Background

Last year, Issue One led bipartisan opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would have required documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Issue One organized 60 bipartisan election officials from across the country in a letter opposing the bill, warning that it would impose unfunded, unworkable, and legally risky mandates on election administrators without offering the necessary resources or implementation support.

The newly introduced MEGA Act and SAVE America Act revive the SAVE Act’s core restrictions and expand them further. The SAVE America Act adds a photo ID requirement for voting, and the MEGA Act adds new federal controls on election funding, civil and criminal penalties for election officials, and additional barriers that would deepen federal overreach and increase the risk of voter disenfranchisement.