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Every version of the SAVE Act has had a common throughline: Requiring Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. For most people, this would likely mean a passport or birth certificate. While the bill lists other eligible documents that can prove citizenship, they may not meet the measure's requirements, said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the voting rights and elections program at the Brennan Center for Justice. One of those documents is an ID that is compliant with the provisions of the REAL ID Act of 2005 and "indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States." REAL IDs are available to both citizens and noncitizens, Morales-Doyle said. No one state's REAL ID explicitly marks citizenship status, nor do most state-issued driver's licenses. The act also requires a government-issued photo ID to vote in person, and a copy of an eligible photo ID both when requesting and submitting an absentee ballot. There are other provisions in this latest iteration of the SAVE Act, such as requiring mail-in applicants to provide proof of citizenship in person and mandating that states take steps to make sure only U.S. citizens are registered to vote. The bill would also add criminal penalties for any election official who registers an applicant who fails to provide documentary proof of citizenship. Those penalties apply even if an individual is a U.S. citizen, said Rachel Orey, director of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Elections Project. This is one of the "most concerning gray areas" in the SAVE America Act because it gives "vague discretion" to an election official who could face a criminal penalty, they said. This "risks creating an environment where election officials are almost overly compliant, taking a very hyper interpretation of the statute, which might mean that this process that is meant to be a fail-safe doesn't actually operate like one in practice because election officials don't have the protection that they would need to make that decision on a case-by-case basis," they said. A second bill, called the Make Elections Great Again Act, also requires documentation of citizenship to register to vote, along with photo ID provisions. But it also adds an array of other election changes, such as banning universal voting by mail. Orey said all of the bills under consideration are "unfunded mandates" that need time and resources to implement. A one-year lead is the "optimal" amount of time for states to implement a new policy or 22