United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator,
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to express our strong opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. Members of the National Committee come from all walks of life and every political persuasion. What unites them is their passion for protecting and strengthening Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the other programs that are so vitally important to older Americans.
Americans over age 65 are this nation’s most reliable voting group. According to the Census Bureau, 74.7% of voters ages 65 or older voted in 2024, the highest rate among all age groups. These voters were also the only age group with a higher turnout than in 2020. The fact that older voters turn out in numbers well above other age groups has been a truism in electoral politics for decades.
Federal law already prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. The forms of identification permitted to prove citizenship in the SAVE America Act are stricter than those allowed in all but one State, and would significantly limit the ability of older Americans to vote in federal elections. By severely restricting the types of documents acceptable to prove identity, the bill would require the vast majority of Americans to rely on either a passport or an original birth certificate in combination with certain limited forms of government-issued photo IDs to prove their citizenship. Many older Americans will find it difficult, if not impossible, to meet the new requirements, even though they are citizens. Older Americans who have moved often over the span of their lives, or have moved out of their homes and into nursing or assisted living facilities, may have an especially tough time gathering the required proof of eligibility.
According to YouGov.com, about 46 percent of Americans over age 65 have valid passports, leaving over one-half of America’s seniors – over 30 million people – without that option to prove citizenship. Acquiring new passports or renewing expired ones is time consuming and costly, making it a poor option for older Americans who do not already have valid passports readily available. According to the Center for American Progress, as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name upon marriage do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name. These voters would face additional hurdles before this method of proving citizenship would be accepted. Women age 65 and older are especially likely to confront this challenge as the societal norms of the time trended against retaining one’s maiden name upon marriage. According to Pew Research Center data from 2023, eighty-five percent of women married to men who are 50 and older took their husband’s last name when they wed. Few of these women will have thought to request a new birth certificate reflecting their married name.
The most significant restriction of all for seniors and the disabled lies in the requirement to “present” this citizenship documentation when registering to vote or renewing a registration, or enclosing copies of the documents when submitting mail-in applications or ballots. If states interpret this language in the strictest sense of the word, it could cause a hardship for those with mobility issues, for caregivers and for those in nursing homes by requiring most citizenship documentation to be “presented” in person. Seniors and Americans with disabilities face a series of challenges when they are required to conduct activities in person, and not all have access to photocopiers or other methods for making copies of required documents if these alternatives are permitted. Allowing the use of Social Security numbers to be included in mail-in material is a high-risk alternative as it exposes every American to potential fraud and identity theft.
The problem confronting seniors if ‘in person’ presentation of citizenship documentation is required would only become more acute if President Trump’s insistence that the SAVE America Act be amended to severely restrict the use of mail-in ballots is adopted.
Many seniors do not drive or only drive to local offices they are familiar with, may have limited alternative transportation options available, and frequently find themselves dependent on others to drive them, which results in prioritizing medical appointments and trips to grocery stores. In fact, about 30 percent of those 85 and older no longer have a license at all, according to Federal Highway Administration data from 2023. Friends and family who might provide transportation are often only available during non-working hours, when most registrar’s offices are closed. The challenge of in person documentation is a particular problem in rural areas, where the SAVE America Act would force some older voters to drive up to eight hours round trip just to update their voter registration information.
To add insult to injury, the SAVE America Act could encourage the Social Security Administration (SSA) to use its vast troves of Americans’ personal data in ways that potentially violate both privacy laws and the Social Security Act.
The legislation directs states to hand their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security to run through the agency’s flawed citizenship verification tool. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “dozens of states have refused to provide voter files requested by the Trump administration because of concerns about misuse of such data. And those concerns are well founded: The administration conceded in court documents in January that DOGE team members within SSA agreed to turn over state voter rolls to an advocacy group seeking to “find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States.”
When states have agreed to turn over their voter rolls to the Trump administration, several have agreed to give the administration unprecedented latitude to meddle in elections, including the power to tell states to remove specific voters from the rolls and share sensitive, private voter data at will — including with people outside of government.” Requiring states to turn over their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security would further weaponize Americans’ personal information in ways that could easily disenfranchise eligible voters who oppose the Trump Administrations’ policies.
Finally, the SAVE America Act requires SSA to verify voter citizenship information for states within 24 hours of any state request without providing additional funding for this new activity, which is well outside the SSA’s mission. This would take an agency that has been severely underfunded and understaffed for years, and which is already facing additional staff reductions, office closures and expanded identity proof requirements of its own to carry yet another new and burdensome responsibility. This can only result in even longer lines at Social Security offices, longer delays for benefits, and the potential for benefit disruptions that could severely impact seniors and disabled Americans who rely on every benefit check to make ends meet.
America’s seniors have proven repeatedly that they take their civic responsibilities seriously by voting in record numbers, even during relatively low-turnout elections. Imposing barriers to voting access such as those in the SAVE America Act will disenfranchise millions of the nation’s most dedicated voters. On their behalf, we urge you to vote NO on this pernicious legislation.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO