Writing & Thoughts
Reflections on naval history, political science, amateur radio adventures, and music.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act or SAVE America Act, would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. It amends Section 3 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to bar a state from registering an applicant who does not present such proof, in person, at the time of registration. The version the House passed in February 2026 also requires photo identification to cast a ballot, directs states to remove suspected non-citizens from the rolls, creates a private right of action against election officials who register voters without documentary proof, and establishes criminal penalties.
On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court held in Watson v. Republican National Committee that the federal election-day statutes do not prevent a state from counting absentee ballots postmarked by election day and received afterward.
The US Supreme Court supported states that permit grace periods for returning mailed ballots after Election Day.
Every general election, a measurable number of valid military and overseas ballots are rejected for one reason: the mail did not move fast enough. The ballot was marked in time. It was dropped in the mail in time. It arrived at the county courthouse too late.
We have inverted our electoral system for the worse
Some part of the military has been voting absentee since the American Revolution. That’s not a boast. It’s a fact that gets lost in the noise every election cycle, when pundits rediscover the military ballot and treat it like a novelty. In 1775, Continental Army soldiers fighting in New Hampshire were allowed to vote by proxy at a town meeting back home. The logic was simple: serving your country shouldn’t cost you your voice in it. Two hundred and fifty years later, that logic still holds. The law has caught up — mostly. But the obstacles haven’t disappeared. They’ve just changed shape.
Americans want their soldiers to vote. But often they can't. Those are the first sentences of a recent post of mine in the Monkey Cage Blog by the Washington Post.
American military service members are deployed all over the world. Dr. Donald S. Inbody — military voting expert and author of The Soldier Vote — explains how they can fulfill their civic duty to vote even from a conflict zone.