Click to expand Image People hold signs at a rally and press conference against the SAVE America Act at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 18, 2026. © 2026 Bryan Dozier/NurPhoto via Reuters The US Senate is currently debating the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill claiming to address voter fraud but that would in fact create unnecessary barriers to voting for millions of people. The bill would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, such as a passport or driver’s license paired with a birth certificate, documentation that many lack. The bill would disproportionately affect women and trans people, particularly those from marginalized groups.Women who changed their legal names after marriage are among those most affected. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that around 85 percent of women change their surname in some way after marriage, and an estimated 69 million women in the US have legal names that do not match their birth certificates. To vote, they would need a passport reflecting their current legal name, or they would have to provide additional documentation, such as marriage certificates, divorce decrees, or court documents reflecting the name change, though the exact requirements remain unclear.Transgender people could also face barriers as many lack consistent identification due to varying state and federal policies, some of which prohibit transgender people from updating gender markers, while others impose burdensome requirements. Requiring multiple forms of ID, including a birth certificate, could create problems for transgender voters whose documents have inconsistent markers of gender.Financial barriers compound the other barriers. The SAVE America Act introduces logistical and economic hurdles that fall hardest on those with low income and marginalized communities. Many lack documents like passports, driver’s licenses or birth certificates and obtaining them requires fees, transportation and time off work, costs not equally manageable for everyone. As a result, the bill risks disproportionally excluding those with fever resources, echoing concerns historically associated with poll taxes.Women and transgender people with low incomes will face overlapping barriers that make voting even more difficult. Based on 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.9 million women live in poverty in the US with women of color disproportionally represented.The bill also raises serious concerns under international law, including the US obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to ensure the right to vote without discrimination and unreasonable restrictions. The Senate should reject the bill.