Battling Bills!

There are a number of bills before Congress this session that would change the way we vote. One set of bills expands voting rights, while another set imposes limits. Can you guess which party introduced each set?

Bill #1: Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) – H.R. 22

Bill #2: Freedom to Vote Act

Bill #3: American Confidence in Elections Act (ACE Act)

Bill #4: Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act

Bill #5: Same Day Registration Act (S. 2820)

Bill #6: SAVE VOTERS Act

Bill #7: Right to Vote Act

Bill #8: Fair Representation Act

First thought: There are a number of voter bills!

Bill	Goal	Party
SAVE Act (H.R. 22)	Restrict / safeguard voting	Republican
Freedom to Vote Act	Expand voting access	Democrat
ACE Act	Restrict / safeguard voting	Republican
MEGA Act	Restrict / safeguard voting	Republican
Same Day Registration Act (S. 2820)	Expand voting access	Democrat
SAVE VOTERS Act	Expand voting access	Democrat
Right to Vote Act	Expand voting access	Democrat
Fair Representation Act	Expand voting access	Democrat

Notice something?

• Republican bills → focus on restricting voting or tightening rules
• Democratic bills → focus on expanding access and protecting voter rights

Republicans’ restrictive bills build on the false narrative pushed by some in their party that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

House Republicans propose stricter voting rules as Trump administration eyes midterms

AP News

By  LISA MASCARO

January 29, 2026

House Republicans are proposing sweeping changes to the nation's voting laws, a long-shot priority for President Donald Trump that would impose stricter requirements, including some before Americans vote in the midterm elections in the fall.

The package released Thursday reflects a number of the party's most sought-after election changes, including requirements for photo IDs before people can vote and proof of citizenship, both to be put in place in 2027. Others, including prohibitions on universal vote-by-mail and ranked choice voting — two voting methods that have proved popular in some states — would happen immediately. The Republican president continues to insist that the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged.

"Americans should be confident their elections are being run with integrity — including commonsense voter ID requirements, clean voter rolls, and citizenship verification," said Rep. Bryan Steil, chairman of the House Administration Committee, in a statement.

Every word is bull!

I repeat: There is no evidence of widespread or outcome-changing voter fraud in U.S. federal elections.

• The Department of Justice (under Republican and Democratic administrations)
• State election officials from both parties
• Courts, including judges appointed by Republicans
• Independent election audits and recounts

But facts don't count with the Republicans!

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law wrote about how the changes will effect low income and minorities back in 2011 and 2019.

New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?

The Brennan Center submits written testimony for the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights hearing: “New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?”

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law thanks the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights for providing the opportunity to present testimony at this important hearing, and in particular, discuss the consequences of strict voter identification requirements.

[...]

II.        Photo ID Requirements for Voters Negatively Impact Voting

The best available empirical evidence shows that significant percentages of voting-age American citizens do not possess valid, government-issued photo identification.

Regardless of whether new photo ID laws are constitutional, they are certainly bad policy. Statutes obliging American citizens to obtain and produce government-issued photo ID before being permitted to vote threaten to disenfranchise millions of Americans.  The seminal study on this issue, Citizens Without Proof—a report based upon a nationwide survey by the National Opinion Research Corporation sponsored by the Brennan Center in late 2006—found that 11% of voting-age American citizens do not have current, government-issued photo IDs.[11]  That represents more than 21 million individuals.  Any policy that would operate to completely bar or limit access to a population of this size from the polls must be viewed with scrutiny and compels demand for a well‑supported rationale for its implementation.  

The goal of the Republicans is to disenfranchise likely Democrat voters!

In another Brennan Center for Justice article they write how it affects minorities,

There is a large and growing pile of evidence that strict voter ID laws disproportionately impact voters of color.

• Using county-level turnout data around the country, researchers demonstrated that the racial turnout gap grew when states enacted strict voter ID laws.
• Researchers have also looked specifically at the turnout of individuals in North Carolina without proper identification, and they found that the enactment of the law reduced turnout. The turnout effects continued even after the strict voter ID law was repealed.
• Another study shows that voters in Texas who would be barred from voting absent the state’s “Reasonable Impediments Declaration” (a court-ordered remedy allowing voters without proper IDs to participate) are disproportionately Black and Latino. The study argues that its “findings indicate that strict identification laws will stop a disproportionately minority, otherwise willing set of registered voters from voting.”
• An article using a similar methodology and administrative records found that voters of color in Michigan were more likely to show up to the polls without proper identification.
• Yet another study used survey data to demonstrate that voters of color in states across the country lacked access to the needed IDs to vote in their state.
• While some studies have argued that voter IDs have little effect on overall turnout, it is clear that voters of color are less likely to have the IDs needed to participate.

Restrictions on Sunday voting — such as those proposed last year in Georgia and Texas — would fall disproportionately on voters of color.

• Our research showed that voters of color were substantially more likely to vote on Sundays in Georgia than white voters.
• Another study argues that these Sunday voters do not seamlessly transition to other days after cuts are made. For example, when Sunday voting was outlawed in Florida in 2012, Black voters who voted on Sunday in 2008 were especially likely to abstain from voting.

These restrictive bills are not neutral policies; they are likely to disenfranchise groups that traditionally vote Democratic, including minorities and low-income citizens. In contrast, Democratic bills aim to expand access and reduce these barriers.

These bills are designed for one thing, and only one thing... to get Republicans elected!