Saving or Suppressing the Right to Vote: The Florida SAVE Act
October 15, 2026
By Megan Husi
As of September 14, 2026, the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, often referred to as the SAVE Act or SAVE America Act, has been stalled in the U.S. Senate due to Democratic opposition, though some Republican lawmakers have indicated that they will try to push the act’s key reforms through the reconciliation process. Despite Congress’s stalemate, several state legislatures, including Florida, have taken matters into their own hands and enacted laws with similar provisions.
On April 1, 2026, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 991 (HB 991), also known as the Florida SAVE Act, into law. The Governor characterized this newest legislation as continuing his administration’s goal of “[s]afeguarding the electoral process.” According to him, the bill “strengthens the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system.” Another proponent of the bill, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd remarked that it “upholds the Florida Constitution by ensuring only citizens can vote in Florida elections.”
HB 991 includes several reforms of Florida’s election laws. Among the most controversial are the new documentation and verification requirements that the bill adds to Florida’s voter registration system. HB 991 will require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship in order to register or remain registered to vote. Additionally, the law requires a person whose current legal name differs from the one listed on their proof of citizenship documents to provide official legal name-change documentation. This requirement will add an extra step for some married, divorced, and even adopted people, which may end up taking “time, money, internet access, transportation, and help from others” to procure if the person does not already have the documents available. It would also disproportionately affect women in the state, as it is estimated that there are more than 4 million women in Florida who do not currently have birth certificates matching their current legal name due to changing their last name or hyphenation upon marriage.
HB 991 is already facing legal challenges on multiple grounds. Two lawsuits, one brought by the Florida NAACP, and one brought by UnidosUs, the League of Women Voters of Florida, and other voting rights activists in affiliation with the ACLU of Florida, are challenging the law on First and Fourteenth Amendment (Equal Protection) grounds. Attorney Abha Khanna, a partner at Elias Law Group representing the Florida NAACP in the Tallahassee federal court case explained, “These kinds of provisions, historically and traditionally, have had an undue burden, particularly on minority voters, older voters, and low-income voters.” Attorney Carrie McNamara, the plaintiff-side attorney in the ACLU case echoed this sentiment, cautioning, “The idea that in order to justify your citizenship, you have to pull together documents from the government that cost money, it’s just a way to disenfranchise, truly, millions of people and to significantly change who can vote and decrease the number of people in the state who can vote.” A third lawsuit, brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleges that HB 991 violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) because it requires more proof of citizenship than that required by federal law.
Though this new law will not be in effect until January 1, 2027, it could nonetheless affect millions of Floridians. It has already caused confusion from voters. Amy Keith, leader of the Florida chapter of Common Cause, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting democracy, has voiced concerns about the “huge number of Floridians who don’t have a Florida driver’s license or a Florida State ID” which would likely “include out-of-state students, senior citizens, low-income residents, and Floridians with disabilities.”
While it remains to be seen how these lawsuits will play out, and the changes will not affect voters in the November 2026 election, there are still things Florida voters can do to proactively prepare for the upcoming law. According to Keith, already-registered voters can update their local Supervisor of Elections by calling and giving them their driver’s license number. They can also “visit the state’s voting registration website and request an updated voter information card.” New voters, as well as voters updating their registration, should include both their “Social Security number and driver’s license number to reduce the chance of being flagged.” And lastly, those who do not yet have a Florida driver’s license or state ID, and are able to get one, should get one.