By Mehek Cooke, The Daily Signal | June 11, 2026
California makes the strongest case for passing the SAVE America Act. The state has built one of the most permissive voting systems in the country, with lax safeguards and rules that defy common sense.
It has multiplied the pathways for ballots to enter circulation and remain in the counting process while reducing the most important eligibility question to little more than an honor system: Is the voter an American citizen?
A recent federal case reveals how easily the state’s rules can be exploited before ballots are cast. Federal prosecutors last month charged Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, a longtime petition circulator, with paying individuals, including homeless people living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, to register to vote. She allegedly paid individuals to complete voter registration forms and on several occasions provided homeless individuals with her own former address.
Given that California automatically mails a vote-by-mail ballot to every active registered voter, ballots in some of those individuals’ names potentially could have been sent to an address where they did not live or collect mail. Furthermore, state laws allows a voter to authorize another person to return their ballot for them, and eligible voters who miss the registration deadline can conditionally register through Election Day at a county elections office, polling place, or vote center.
California law does require voter applicants to affirm under penalty of perjury that they are American citizens. However, when proof of identity or residency is required, the state accepts an unusually broad range of documents, including an employee or student identification card, a public housing identification card, a credit card, an insurance card, or even a gym membership card.
These documents may help establish that a person exists or lives in a community, but they do not prove that the person is a U.S. citizen. The debate over voter ID frequently focuses on whether a voter shows identification at the polls. California reveals why that question is not enough. An identification card not issued by the government may establish who a person is, but it does not answer if they can vote in a federal election.
Every eligible American citizen, regardless of income, housing status, or access to paperwork, deserves a clear path to the ballot box. They should also be confident that federal elections are reserved for American citizens.
Ballot integrity begins with verifying the voter roll. That is why Congress must pass the SAVE America Act. The legislation requires proof of citizenship for registration to vote in federal elections while preserving an alternate process for eligible citizens who need help proving their eligibility, such as seniors, naturalized citizens, and women whose current names differ from their birth certificates.
Federal elections are reserved for American citizens, and proof of citizenship, not just any paperwork, should be required by law. As an immigrant who became an American citizen, I understand the significance of that distinction. Citizenship carries rights and responsibilities, with voting among its most sacred privileges.
California has spent years removing barriers to the ballot while leaving citizenship verification dependent on little more than an honor system. The Skid Row case exposed the risk before a ballot was ever cast. Congress should close that gap nationwide.
Mehek Cooke is senior national security and legal analyst for the Daily Signal.
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