Jim Crow Redux: Das „Save America“-Gesetz ist schlicht und einfach eine Kopfsteuer

Edited to add: *There is confusion about the Real ID license eligibility. The problem is that in 44 or 45 states (depending on interpretation), the ID doesn’t validate citizenship and so would not be eligible ID under this act.*

„Requiring people to shell out for passports and birth certificates to “solve” a problem that doesn’t exist is a modern-day version of what they used to do down South. It must be stopped.“

„Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and MAGA Republicans in and out of Congress are putting on a [full court press](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/03/09/congress/trump-save-america-act-gop-00819673) to get Senate Majority Leader John Thune to [blow up](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/11/cornyn-filibuster-save-act-trump-00822562) the Senate’s filibuster rule to jam through their SAVE America Act, which they regularly talk about as a “Voter ID bill,” one to stop the voter fraud they claim, with straight faces, is rampant when even Trump’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, can find only trace elements of non-citizens voting or others committing voter fraud.“

„It is all lies, perpetrated to force a nationalization of elections and massive voter suppression, pushed now in the face of plummeting support for Trump and his party in the country and among voters. The core of the bill, requiring voters to prove their citizenship, is both a massive hurdle and a major poll tax.“

„Under the bill, all registered voters would be required to go to a voting registrar *in person to* re-register, providing proof of citizenship. For those in 45 states, a Real ID will not suffice; voters would need a passport, passport card, or certified birth certificate (not a copy). For married women who had changed their names, many more hoops including a marriage certificate and other proof of the legitimacy of their name.“

„And states would be required to use a voter purge system created by DOGE, relying on Social Security System data, that has been shown to be unreliable and biased. This is the same DOGE, by the way, that made off with the most sensitive Social Security information for hundreds of millions and tried to share it with a private company. With an error rate estimated at 14 percent or more, this program would require states to disenfranchise millions of legitimate voters.“

„Half of Americans do not have passports; getting one costs at least $165, plus photos, and requires … a birth certificate or certificate of naturalization. A passport card, with the same requirements, costs $65 plus photos. Marco Rubio’s State Department has cut the Passport Office in half and removed the ability of people to submit applications for a passport to local libraries, meaning physically going to an official office, which for many would mean traveling hundreds of miles.“

„Many millions of Americans have no idea where their birth certificates are or have one that will not suffice under this bill; getting an official one, which is not always easy, can cost up to $80 or $100.“

„If Republicans really just wanted voter ID, there is a simple way to get there. Have a bipartisan bill requiring a photo ID to vote—while allowing the use of state-issued student IDs, and giving Americans who lack an ID a free passport card.“

“ But that is not what Republicans want—the voter ID part is a Trojan Horse, taking a popular idea as a subterfuge to pass an unprecedented national power grab of elections from the states that have run them for well over 200 years, in order to cement Republicans in power, no matter how unpopular they are.“

„A core element of the Jim Crow laws in Southern states to block Blacks from voting was a poll tax, used from the 1890s to the 1960s. It was outlawed for federal elections by the 24th Amendment in 1964, and by the Supreme Court for state and local elections two years later. The SAVE America act is a modern poll tax, plain and simple, and is flatly unconstitutional.“

If an ID is a requirement and that ID is not fully free and federally funded, it’s a poll tax. Period.

It’s a poll tax that goes hard for women especially.

The DESTROY America Act. The GOP always name legislation the opposite of what it does.

I keep saying it: Not only a poll tax, but sharing voter registration information. The Trump admin LOST in court when requesting this information from states. Don’t let them do an end run to get this information.

This is what Conservatives do. They frame an argument around simple to understand and easy to follow idea. Like „voters should have ID“. Then attempt to push through Policies that includes a of things they have never formally advocated or discussed.

Hold on, I thought there were amendments to the Save Act. This article doesn’t mention any of that. Are they saying Republicans reverted back to the original bill? That seems like headline news in itself.

It’s way more sinister than that. It’s voter suppression. They want poor people to stop voting and will selectively enforce it where it suits their electoral needs.

Republicans still haven’t made an honest case for passing their SAVE act. Because there is no honest case for it.

All they’ve done is lie about voter fraud, pretending that it’s a problem when it’s obviously not. Pre-existing laws already completely cover this issue with zero issues.

They’ve tried to claim that average people want this law, quoting surveys that do not ask about this law. „I want secure elections“ is not the same as „I want the SAVE act“. We already have secure elections. „I think ID should be shown to vote“ is not the same as „I want the SAVE act.“ ID already must be shown to register, and voting records are routinely checked for fraud – it barely ever happens.

Even if the merits of the SAVE act could be set aside, which they shouldn’t be, 8 months until the election is not enough time to mass reregister >200 million voting Americans. Everyone could have their documents and I doubt even half of us would be on the new voter rolls in time.

Transparently, if the goal of SAVE wasn’t disenfranchisement it would define a realistic timeline to enact a full switch to new requirements, and have a grace period of at least 2-4 years to minimize corruption of elections while that happens.

This together with that Id law in Kansas means trans people cannot vote there

I was wondering over the weekend how this was not a poll tax. I see I am not alone, and others can back it worh more reason than my knowledge of the domain allows.

If you missed the wrong day of school, the govt will track you down to get you to sign a draft card. They can definitely give every 18 year old a free ID. Register them to vote at the same time and we might get somewhere.