JUST IN: Florida PASSES Own Version of the SAVE Act Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote

In a major win for election integrity, the Florida Legislature has just passed its own, state-wide version of the SAVE America Act!

The bill will require proof of citizenship to vote in Florida elections and ensure that paper ballots are used as the primary method for voting.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

Here are the details:

🚨 BREAKING — IT'S OFFICIAL: The Florida Legislature just PASSED their own version of the SAVE America Act, it's now headed to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis for final signature

– Fortifies CITIZENSHIP requirement and verification
– Ensures valid photo ID to vote
– Marks PAPER… pic.twitter.com/UIseANJ90a

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 12, 2026

BREAKING — IT’S OFFICIAL: The Florida Legislature just PASSED their own version of the SAVE America Act, it’s now headed to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis for final signature

– Fortifies CITIZENSHIP requirement and verification
– Ensures valid photo ID to vote
– Marks PAPER BALLOTS as the primary method of voting
– Bans student IDs as valid form of voter ID

LET’S GO! Do this in all 50 states! ☀️🇺🇸

The vote in the House was 77-28

These changes to voting are long overdue!

If the Senate won’t get the SAVE Act done, then every single state should follow in Florida’s footsteps and pass laws to ensure election integrity.

And, that’s already what’s happening in several states.

Despite the SAVE Act being stalled by the Senate, lawmakers in over a dozen states are considering their own versions of similar legislation.

NBC News provided a few examples:

Bills to add a proof-of-citizenship requirements to voter registration have also passed through both legislative chambers in South Dakota and Utah, where they await the signatures from their Republican governors.

Mississippi lawmakers in both chambers of the Legislature have passed bills that would make some voters show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. They will need to reconcile amendments on the legislation before it can go to the state’s Republican governor for a signature.

In Iowa, Republicans in the state Senate passed a bill that would ask some voters for proof of citizenship, sending it to the House. And in Kansas, Republicans in the House passed a similar bill.

Plus, new voter ID restrictions have been approved by at least one legislative chamber in eight states, according to the Voting Rights Lab: Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Utah and West Virginia.

The only downside in Florida’s case is that the new bill will not go into effect until next year — which is after the midterms.

Florida Phoenix has more:

The Florida Legislature has approved a bill (HB 991) that will require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote, similar to federal legislation being advocated for by President Trump and Republicans in Congress.

It also will remove student IDs from being an acceptable form of identification at the polls.

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The GOP-controlled Florida House approved the measure Thursday evening, 77-28. The vote came hours after the Senate approved the measure, mostly along party lines, 27-12.

Miami Republican Alexis Calatayud joined all the Democrats in opposing the measure, and independent Jason Pizzo joined the Republicans in supporting it. The bill will head to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk and he is expected to sign it into law. However, it will not go into effect until January 2027 — following November’s midterm elections.

It’s already illegal for non-citizens to vote in Florida and, in 2020, the prohibition was enshrined into the Florida Constitution. But Republicans say the new measure will ensure “voter integrity.”

“Yes, we have safe elections in Florida, but they don’t stay safe and secure if we don’t pay attention to the large gaps that exist where we can address additional fraud,” said Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, who sponsored the measure in the Senate.

In 2025, the state found 198 “likely noncitizens who illegally registered and/or voted in Florida” out of the more than 13 million people on its voter rolls, according to a January 2026 report from the state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security. The office referred 170 of them to state and federal law enforcement for further investigation and prosecution. The remaining 28 individuals it referred to the Division of Elections for list maintenance.

The bill says that the U.S. citizenship status of every Florida voter would need to be verified through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles records before their voter registration is considered valid.

Applicants would need to prove their citizenship by providing one of the following:

• A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license.
• A U.S. birth certificate.
• A current and valid U.S. passport.
• A Consular Report of Birth Abroad from the U.S. Department of State.
• A naturalization certificate, certificate of citizenship, certificate number, or an alien registration number issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
• A current and valid photo identification issued by the federal government or from Florida that indicates U.S. citizenship.
• An order from a federal court granting U.S. citizenship.

The bill’s supporters note that it would not affect voters who have already had their citizenship verified when they received a Florida driver’s license compliant with REAL ID standards.

This is a great step in the right direction.

However, it’s crucial that we mandate proof of citizenship nationwide — especially in states where fraud is especially rampant, like California, Georgia, and Arizona.

The Senate needs to take a hint from Florida and get the SAVE Act passed now!