WASHINGTON — The Senate was expected to begin consideration of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE America Act, on Tuesday. The legislation would require proof of U.S. citizenship for new voters when they register and require approved identification when they vote.

Federal law already requires that voters in federal elections be U.S. citizens. Under the bill, new voter registrants would have to prove citizenship mostly through a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate, and driver’s licenses in many states would not suffice as proof of citizenship. The bill specifies that identification must comply with new REAL ID rules and indicate that the applicant is a U.S. citizen.

Most new registrants would have to present citizenship documents in person at elections offices, including mail-in voters. The bill would require voters in all states to present valid identification at the polls and would require mail-in voters to send a photocopy. U.S. military members could use a military ID and a record of service showing where they were born to prove citizenship, and the bill would exempt overseas military and some qualified disabled individuals from the identification requirements.

The legislation would create penalties for election officials who register applicants without documentary proof of citizenship and would allow private individuals to sue election officials in certain circumstances. It would also require states to share voter information with the Department of Homeland Security for citizenship verification.

President Donald Trump urged passage of the SAVE America Act and threatened not to sign most other bills until Congress passes it. Trump said passage of the bill will “guarantee” that Republicans win the midterm elections in November, and he said Democrats oppose it because “they want to cheat.” Trump said that if Congress passes the SAVE America Act, Democrats “probably won't win an election for 50 years.”

Senate Republicans planned to hold an extended debate on the bill for a week or more. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the bill would “require Americans to demonstrate that they're eligible to vote” and “that they are who they say they are.” Republicans have compared the bill's voting requirements to the process of obtaining a library card.

Thune has said there is not enough support in the Senate to eliminate the filibuster, after Trump demanded that Republicans eliminate the filibuster or find another workaround to pass the bill. Republican leaders have ruled out deploying a talking filibuster to advance the bill.

Senate Democrats were uniformly opposed to the legislation and were expected to block its passage. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer predicted that handing over voter information to federal authorities would allow DHS to “purge tens of millions of people from the voter rolls.” Schumer said the SAVE America Act “makes it harder to vote, and much easier to steal an election.”

Democrats say the bill would disenfranchise millions of Americans who lack documents like birth certificates. Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias said he is not aware of any state currently requiring the proof-of-citizenship standards set by the SAVE America Act. Elias said that if the bill is passed, states would need to implement the new requirements the day after enactment.

With 53 Republican senators in the Senate, the SAVE America Act would require Democratic support to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance. Noncitizen voting incidents in federal elections are rare, and before the 2024 election Gallup found that more than eight in 10 Americans supported requiring photo ID to vote and proof of citizenship for new registrants.