Think so?
- The SAVE Act applies uniformly because “federal elections” are treated holistically in statute. The National Voter Registration Act/NVRA (which the bill amends) and the bill itself define coverage as registration for any “election for Federal office,” which has always included the presidential contest (via electors). Congress has regulated presidential voter registration, ID requirements, and roll maintenance for decades through the same NVRA framework without successful Article II challenges. The Help America Vote Act/HAVA (2002) imposed new ID and database rules for all federal elections, including presidential, without being invalidated on Electors Clause grounds.
- Once a state chooses popular election of electors, federal procedural rules can attach. The Supreme Court has never held that Congress is powerless over the mechanics of a state-run popular vote for presidential electors. It has upheld uniform national rules (e.g., Election Day timing) and treated federal elections as subject to congressional oversight where states have opted into popular voting. The core requirement (citizenship) is already federal law (18 U.S.C. § 611); the SAVE Act only changes the verification method. States remain free to appoint electors by other means (legislature appointment, etc.) if they wish, though none do.
