Murkowski Rejects SAVE America Act, Citing Alaska’s Unique Voting Challenges

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) publicly reaffirmed her opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, despite supporting its stated goal of limiting voting to U.S. citizens. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed she warned that the bill’s “serious negative effects” would fall hardest on Alaska, where only six election offices serve a state more than twice the size of Texas. Remote voters would be forced to travel long distances—often by air—to present documentary proof of citizenship in person, a requirement Murkowski estimates could cost “more than $1,000 just to register to vote” for residents of isolated villages such as Savoonga. She also noted that Alaska Native voters, who comprise roughly 15 % of the state’s population, rely on tribal identification that would not satisfy the bill’s standards.

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The SAVE Act, a priority of President Donald Trump, would require documentary proof of citizenship (passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers) for voter registration and would curtail mail-in voting except for narrow exemptions. The House passed a version in February, but Senate leaders have been unable to secure the 60-vote supermajority needed for passage. In June, Senate Republicans attempted to attach the measure to a $70 billion immigration-funding package; the effort failed after Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Murkowski voted with Democrats to reject the amendment.

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• Six election offices statewide; 80 % of communities lack road connections.

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• An 18-year-old in Savoonga would need a $780 round-trip flight to Nome plus a $300 hotel stay, exceeding $1,000 in travel costs alone.

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• Mail-in voting, a critical tool in a climate-challenged state, would be eliminated except for military deployment or illness.

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Research released in June 2024 by the Brennan Center for Justice, VoteRiders, the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, and Public Wise estimated that 21.3 million voting-age citizens (?9 % of the eligible population) do not have readily available documentary proof of citizenship, and at least 3.8 million lack such documents entirely.

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• Murkowski’s op-ed emphasized that the bill “would impose costly new barriers and prevent some, perhaps many, from voting, while also creating chaos before the November elections.”

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• President Trump, in a Thursday night address, framed the legislation as essential to a “crisis of election security” and warned that failure to act would “allow cheating.”

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• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared on X that the SAVE Act “won’t pass. Not ever.”

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• Senator Thom Tillis warned that “more than 10,000” governmental entities would need to implement the changes before November, making timely compliance impossible.

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Voting-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers argue the bill would disenfranchise millions without demonstrable security benefits. Hannah Fried, CEO of All Voting is Local, warned that the act would “intentionally keep millions of eligible voters from casting a ballot.” Critics also point out that non-citizen voting is already illegal and rare, making the proposed safeguards disproportionate.

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Proponents claim the act would “prevent non-citizen voting,” yet the cited research shows such incidents are extremely rare. Murkowski estimates $1,000 registration costs for remote Alaskans, but no independent cost analysis has been published. Additionally, while the bill’s text sets an implementation deadline for the November 2024 midterms, multiple Senate leaders assert that the logistical timeline is infeasible.

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• “While I support the bill’s core tenets—ensuring that only American citizens vote and requiring identification when voting—I remain opposed to it,” — Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator

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• “It would impose costly new barriers and prevent some, perhaps many, from voting, while also creating chaos before the November elections.” — Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator

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• “This crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the SAVE America Act,” — Donald Trump, President of the United States (speech)

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• “If passed, the SAVE Act would intentionally keep millions of eligible voters from casting a ballot,” — Hannah Fried, CEO, All Voting is Local

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• “The SAVE Act is dead on arrival in the United States Senate," he wrote.” — Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader

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Republican leaders continue to press for a Senate vote before the 2026 midterms, while Democratic senators maintain that the legislation lacks a viable path to passage. No further legislative action has been scheduled as of early July 2026.

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