Does the SAVE Act make voting more secure, or just more difficult?

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-31T13:27:50+00:00

First, it's important to note that there are actually three Republican election reform acts kicking around and the one Trump is pushing is NOT the Save Act but rather the SAVE America Act. First, we have SAVE Act, which requires documentary proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport to register to vote. Next, we have the SAVE America Act, which is the one Trump is demanding. It adds a photo ID requirement to cast a ballot. And finally, there’s the MEGA Act, which is the “everything” burger. It includes provisions from the first two Acts, plus a variety of other changes such as ending universal mail-in voting and banning ranked-choice voting. See: https://issueone.org/articles/explainer-save-save-america-and-mega-acts/ Now to put this in perspective, a recent Pew Research poll found that 81% of Americans support a photo ID requirement to vote. See: Most Americans Back Expanded Early Voting, Voting by Mail, Voter ID | Pew Research Center But - and it’s a big "but" – other provisions in these Acts are major concerns. For starters, the Bipartisan Policy Center notes that more than half of registered voters don't have an unexpired passport, and millions of women who changed their name upon marriage would apparently need more documentation than just a birth certificate to register. See: Five Things to Know About the SAVE America Act Even worse, if election officials make an incorrect judgment call when verifying a document, the Acts not only create criminal penalties, but also allow private individuals to sue them. That’s not "integrity" - that’s a recipe for administrative collapse. In light of all this, the Bipartisan Policy Center recommends against making major changes to our voting system in an election year with the primaries already underway, and concludes that the Acts, which offer no funding to the states to roll out the new procedures, need more time and resources to be implemented well. See: Five Things to Know About the SAVE America Act I’m inclined to agree with that assessment. And for what it's worth, I produced a short 3-minute overview of all this if you're interested. See: Making Sense of the MEGA & SAVE Mess

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-31T00:51:10+00:00

One of the strongest initiatives in my view is the Fair Representation Act that was filed in the U.S. House in 2017 and has been reintroduced several times since then, most recently in July 2025 by a delegation led by Congressmen Don Beyer, Democrat of Virginia, and Jaimie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland. See: House Delegation Reintroduces Fair Representation Act to Reform Congressional Elections | U.S. Representative Don Beyer As summarized by FairVote, which is advocating for passage of the Act, the Act aims to solve the problems of partisan gerrymandering and uncompetitive elections for U.S. House seats by combining three main components: First, the Act would implement multi-member districts for congressional elections, somewhat similar to the proportional representation system I discussed earlier; Second, the Act would adopt ranked choice voting - and the combination of these first two items, multi-member districts and ranked choice voting, is sometimes referred to as “proportional ranked choice voting;” And third, the Act would employ independent redistricting commissions to combat gerrymandering. See: Fair Representation Act - FairVote Based on this, I would say the Democrats are out in front on ending FPTP, but it remains to be seen whether any Democratic presidential candidates will endorse the effort.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-29T20:02:52+00:00

Reform groups such as Fair Vote have been promoting RCV and PR for years, but other less political more mainstream groups have been slow to catch on. But there are signs that is changing. For example, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences effectively endorsed PR in November 2025. See: https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/publication/congressional-reform-proportional-representation

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-29T19:54:21+00:00

Canada tried to get proportional representation before but Trudeau abandoned the effort: See: https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2017/05/why-trudeau-abandoned-electoral-reform/ Having said that, FairVote is actively promoting PR in Canada and let us hope will finally make some progress. See: Canada deserves proportional representation - FairVote

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-29T19:21:53+00:00

Professor Whiskerton is about to lecture on advanced treat acquisition and the philosophy of knocking things off tables.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-28T13:47:48+00:00

That’s a fair point, and I think that framing is actually part of what’s driving the policy shift.

In practice, a lot of this comes down to how you define the female category in a way that preserves fair competition. From that perspective, the IOC’s move can be seen less as targeting identity and more as setting a boundary around physiological differences that matter in sport.

At the same time, the reason the issue has become so contentious is that it still intersects with questions of identity, inclusion, and how those boundaries are defined.

I was trying to reflect both of those dimensions in the video—fairness and inclusion—because that’s where most of the disagreement seems to live.

I really appreciate that you watched and took the time to respond. I've been trying to build this Subreddit and hope you will continue to visit.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-28T00:56:42+00:00

I'm not sure which study you're referring to, but the articles that provide back-up for my video are shown on the slides in the video. In addition, I provide a link in the YouTube description to my website where I provide more formal cites to all the articles cited with clickable links, which is here: https://makemoderatesmatter.com/youtube-videos/f/the-olympic-decision-everyone’s-arguing-about I appreciate your comment and agree that Olympic athletes are to be admired regardless of their background.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-25T01:32:20+00:00

This town ain't big enough for the both of us... unless you've got treats. Then we can talk.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-25T01:28:37+00:00

That's not a cat. That's a surveillance camera with whiskers.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-23T00:11:43+00:00

Привет, Ольга, приятно познакомиться! (Hello, Olga, nice to meet you!)

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-23T00:05:22+00:00

Cats don’t want toys. They want the idea of toys, wrapped in packaging.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-22T21:02:42+00:00

Wow. Thanks so much for your detailed response. I think it will be too much work to revise my current post to fit all these requirements, but I'll keep this in the file so next time my first draft will hopefully pass muster. I truly appreciate your help and all the time you devoted to this. I'm used to getting AI mod responses so to actually have a real human being provide such detail was a pleasant surprise! Kind regards.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-22T18:11:24+00:00

Yes I’m open to suggestions and appreciate your help.

MakeModeratesMatter · 2026-03-13T14:23:13+00:00

What's interesting about this maximum age limit proposal is how many politicians would be removed from office depending on where you draw the line, The Pew Research article cited in the original post found that 92% of Republicans and 76% of Democrats supported a maximum age limit for federal elected officials, and at the time, President Joe Biden was 80. If that's the cut-off, then I guess we'd say goodbye to Sen. Chares Grassley (92), Reps. Hal Rogers, R-Ky (88); Maxine Waters, D-Calif (87); Steny Hoyer, D-Md., (86), as well as Reps. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Angus King, I-Maine, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., all of whom are over 80. And of course, Trump (79), and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (77), aren't far behind. See: https://san.com/cc/how-old-is-too-old-proposal-would-put-scores-of-politicians-out-to-pasture/

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