Federal 'SAVE Act' risks denying thousands of Alaskans the ability to vote, Murkowski says

[riversedge]

Source: ohiocapitaljournal.com


By: James Brooks - March 24, 2026 3:05 am



An elections bill being debated by the U.S. Senate could cost thousands of Alaskans the ability to vote in this year’s elections, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Thursday in a lengthy speech on Capitol Hill.

The SAVE America Act, supported by President Donald Trump and most congressional Republicans, is ostensibly intended to prevent noncitizens from voting in American elections, but its implementation could prevent many Americans from being able to vote.

“While disenfranchisement may not be the intent of the SAVE America Act … I think that we will see that. In fact, I fully expect it to be an outcome of this,” Murkowski said.

The act would require that voters present photo ID when they vote, and that people present documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. That would mean presenting proof of citizenship in person at an elections office or other specially licensed state license.

“This would be a major, major departure from how most Alaskans currently register to vote,” Murkowski said.

In 2024, about 29,000 Alaskans registered to vote. Most of those — 25,000 or so — would have run into problems if the current bill had been law at that time, she said.

Most of Alaska’s voter registrations are done online or through the state’s motor-voter or PFD voter process. The bill could allow citizenship verification, but it’s not clear how that would happen, Murkowski.



Read more: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/briefs/federal-save-act-risks-denying-thousands-of-alaskans-the-ability-to-vote-murkowski-says/

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Federal ‘SAVE Act’ risks denying thousands of Alaskans the ability to vote, Murkowski says
ohiocapitaljournal.com/briefs/feder...

— League of Women Voters of Ohio (@lwvohio.bsky.social) 2026-03-24T11:35:20.958Z

[Lemon Lyman]

1. -

So go vote with them again Lisa. We know your tough oppositional talk is just hot air.

[Ritabert]

2. So is Murkowski's level of concern up to a Susan Collins' level yet?

[displacedvermoter]

3. Some manner of oil or other land use or fishery

deal will suddenly appear, and her opposition will fade, and she will get the same folks who are getting disenfranchised by SAVE to not care cause JOBS!

[Ritabert]

4. Yep that's her modus operandi.

[displacedvermoter]

5. Unfortunately I found Mary Peltola,

when she was in the House, was kinda the same. It is a tough place to live, and it is rough making a living, so I assume a lot of voters put basic survival over preserving Democracy.

Or so we are told every time Murkowski caves, or Peltola signed on to some GOP bill, or for that matter when Jared Golden (another rough place to live, deep woods Maine!) went out of his way to bash Biden and vote along with Republicans.

[Ritabert]

6. Unfortunate.

[Bayard]

7. I hadn't realized they were only demanding a passport or birth certificate,

When you REGISTER to vote for the first time. I had thought they wanted those documents just to vote. Am I reading this correctly?

[travelingthrulife]

8. Also students all across the country can't use their student ID to vote.

It's a poll tax. It should not even be up for debate.

[popsdenver]

9. Hey Murkowski

YOU GREW IT, YOU CHEW IT..........Call the Wahhhhhhmbulance

[MLWR]

10. So, LISA, FIND A SPINE OR SOME GUTS AND VOTE AGAINST IT.

If I can figure that out, you should be able to. If you can't represent your constituents, you need to effing RESIGN

[AllyCat]

11. She'll vote for it anyway. Republicans

Can never be trusted to do the right thing.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

12. I would love to see a research study showing how many GOP voters this act is likely to disenfranchise ...

... It need not compare that number to how many Dems it is likely to also disenfranchise. I imagine that number will be higher. But just the GOP side will likely shock many repubs, though probably not enough to actually do anything against it.