Post Context

H.R. 7296 requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo ID to cast a ballot, per the bill text on Congress.gov. The House passed it 218–213 on February 11, 2026 — 217 Republicans and one Democrat voted yes, 213 Democrats voted no.

Kansas ran a similar law from 2013 to 2018, and it's the best-documented test case. In court, Secretary of State Kris Kobach's office could point to at most 39 noncitizens who'd registered over 19 years — out of 1.8 million registered voters. Meanwhile the law blocked more than 31,000 citizens from registering, 12% of everyone who applied. A federal appeals court called the fraud evidence "incredibly slight" and struck the law down. Arizona's version has run longer but produced no proven noncitizen-voting numbers either; a 2024 database error there mislabeled nearly 98,000 legitimate voters. A 2026 ProPublica/Texas Tribune review of seven states checking their full voter rolls found about 4,200 flagged noncitizens out of 35 million registered voters — 0.01%.

Noncitizen voting has been federally illegal since 1996. The dispute isn't over whether it should be banned — it already is — but over whether documentation requirements catch meaningful fraud or mostly trip up citizens who lack a passport or birth certificate on hand.

• H.R.7296 - SAVE America Act | Congress.gov
• Kansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn't work out so well
• Appeals court strikes down Kansas proof-of-citizenship law | NBC News
• Voting By Noncitizens is a Non-Issue | Fair Elections Center
• Arizona Supreme Court rules 98,000 people without confirmed citizenship docs can still vote | CBS News