For the Republic
← Command Center / 🎙 Episode / 2026-02-15 · ~13 minutes (est. from ~1,950 words)

The SAVE Act: A Literacy Test with Better Branding

Draft Complete — Pending Host Review

Fact Check

7/10
fact-check.md

Fact Check Report

Summary

The draft script is largely well-sourced and factually grounded. Most of the major claims track directly to the source material and are independently verifiable. However, there is one clear factual error (Idaho noncitizen count), one claim that requires nuance (Wendy Weiser's historical characterization), and several items that need minor attention before recording.

  • Red flags: 1
  • Yellow flags: 4
  • Blue flags: 3

Findings

Red Flags

"Idaho found zero."

  • Location in script: State audit results section, approximately paragraph 8 ("Utah conducted a full review... Idaho found zero.")
  • Issue: The script states Idaho found zero noncitizens. This is factually wrong. The source material (Democracy Docket, source-03) states Idaho identified 36 "likely" noncitizens. Independent reporting from the Idaho Capital Sun and Spokesman-Review confirms Idaho's Secretary of State referred approximately 30 individuals to Idaho State Police for investigation as possible noncitizen registrants, with the Secretary of State's office having identified 36 likely noncitizens who were being removed from voter rolls. Some of them had voted.
  • Evidence: Democracy Docket source material (source-03-democracy-docket-analysis.md) explicitly states: "Idaho identified 36 'likely' noncitizens." The Idaho Capital Sun (January 9, 2026) confirms: "The Idaho Secretary of State has been removing 36 likely noncitizens as registered voters, and reports that some of them voted."
  • Recommended fix: Replace "Idaho found zero" with "Idaho found 36 likely noncitizens out of 1.1 million registered voters" or similar language. The number is still vanishingly small and supports the script's argument, but "zero" is flatly incorrect and would undermine credibility if challenged.

Yellow Flags

"Georgia -- a state that has been a focal point of election integrity disputes -- found 24 noncitizens out of 8.2 million registered voters."

  • Location in script: State audit results section, same paragraph as Idaho claim.
  • Issue: The original Georgia audit announced by Secretary of State Raffensperger in October 2024 found 20 confirmed noncitizens, not 24. The number 24 appears in Democracy Docket's more recent reporting (source-03), likely reflecting an update as additional cases from the original 156 flagged for investigation were resolved. The script follows the source material, but the more widely reported and well-documented figure is 20. Multiple major outlets (ABC News, CNN, Newsweek, AJC, MSNBC) all reported the figure as 20. If challenged, the 24 figure is harder to source definitively than the 20 figure.
  • Context: The 20-to-24 discrepancy does not change the argument materially. Either number is vanishingly small out of 8.2 million. But if an opponent points to the well-documented 20 figure, saying "24" could look sloppy or inflated (ironically, inflating the number the script is trying to show is tiny).
  • Recommended fix: Consider using "20 noncitizens" as the more defensible, widely sourced figure. If using 24, be prepared to cite the specific Democracy Docket update. Alternatively, say "about two dozen" to hedge.

Wendy Weiser: "the first time in our history that Congress passed a law restricting access to voting"

  • Location in script: Disenfranchisement section, approximately paragraph 10.
  • Issue: The quote is accurately attributed to Weiser from the Brennan Center response (source-04). However, the historical claim embedded in the quote is debatable. The Naturalization Act of 1798 (part of the Alien and Sedition Acts) extended the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 14 years, with the explicit purpose of preventing recent immigrants from voting. This was a federal law that restricted access to voting, even if indirectly. Additionally, while the 15th Amendment expanded voting rights, Jim Crow era laws were state-level, not Congressional. The Weiser claim is defensible if read narrowly as "a direct federal statute restricting the mechanics of voter registration for existing citizens," but it oversimplifies a complex history.
  • Context: The script presents this as a direct quote from Weiser, which is accurate. But the script adds editorial weight ("Sit with that for a second. Not expanding. Restricting. That's a threshold moment.") that treats the historical claim as settled fact rather than an advocate's framing.
  • Recommended fix: Keep the quote but soften the editorial framing slightly. Consider something like: "If Weiser is right, that makes this a threshold moment" or simply note that it would be the first time Congress passed a law making voter registration harder for existing citizens. The distinction between "restricting access to voting" broadly and "imposing new registration barriers on existing citizens" matters.

"The bill as passed contains no comprehensive free-ID provision. It takes effect immediately, giving states essentially no time to implement it."

  • Location in script: Counterargument section, approximately paragraph 14.
  • Issue: The claim about no free-ID provision is well-supported. The claim about "takes effect immediately" is substantially correct -- the Act states it takes effect on the date of enactment and applies to registration applications submitted on or after that date. However, "essentially no time" slightly overstates it. The bill gives the EAC 10 days to issue guidance and states 30 days to establish verification programs. These are still extremely compressed timelines that would be disruptive, but the script implies literally zero implementation runway, which is not precisely accurate.
  • Context: The Bipartisan Policy Center, Campaign Legal Center, and Brennan Center have all noted the rushed timeline as a serious concern. The script's characterization is directionally correct -- election administrators have called these timelines inadequate.
  • Recommended fix: Minor wording adjustment: "It takes effect almost immediately, giving the EAC just 10 days to issue guidance and states only 30 days to stand up verification programs" or "giving states virtually no meaningful time to implement it." This is more precise and actually more damning because the specific numbers illustrate the absurdity.

"It criminalizes election officials who register applicants without documentation."

  • Location in script: Counterargument section, same paragraph.
  • Issue: The script says the bill "criminalizes" election officials. This is partially accurate but incomplete. The bill creates both civil liability (private right of action / lawsuits) and criminal penalties for election officials who register applicants who fail to present documentary proof. The source material (source-01, Rational League) says "civil liability and criminal exposure." The Bipartisan Policy Center confirmed both civil and criminal penalties apply, and noted the penalties apply even if the applicant is in fact a U.S. citizen. The script is not wrong to say "criminalizes," but omitting the civil liability dimension understates the full scope of the enforcement mechanism.
  • Recommended fix: Consider "It creates criminal penalties and civil liability for election officials who register applicants without documentation" for greater precision. Or at minimum, keep "criminalizes" but know that if challenged, the fuller picture includes civil exposure as well.

Verification Needed

"For every noncitizen the system caught, thousands of citizens got locked out."

  • Location in script: Cold open, paragraph 1.
  • Note: The script implies this ratio from the Kansas data (0.002% noncitizen rate vs. 12% of applicants blocked). The math is directionally right: Kansas found 39 noncitizens over 14 years (1999-2013) while blocking 31,089 citizens. That is a ratio of roughly 797 citizens per noncitizen. "Thousands" (plural) slightly overstates the ratio -- the precise figure is closer to 800:1, not multiple thousands. The host should decide whether to say "hundreds" (more conservative) or "roughly a thousand" (closer to accurate) rather than "thousands." This is the kind of number that will be checked by critics.

"Every European democracy requires government-issued ID tied to citizenship."

  • Location in script: Counterargument section, approximately paragraph 12.
  • Note: This is broadly accurate -- a 2021 Crime Prevention Research Center survey found 46 of 47 European countries require voter ID (the UK was the lone exception at the time; the UK has since added photo ID requirements for general elections starting in 2023). However, the claim that the ID is "tied to citizenship" is a slightly different claim than "requires government-issued ID." In some European countries, the ID requirement is a general government ID (which noncitizens may also possess), and citizenship verification happens through automatic registration from population registries rather than at the point of ID presentation. The script's framing that European systems tie ID to citizenship is broadly defensible but imprecise. The host should be aware of this nuance.

"The Carter-Baker Commission, co-chaired by Jimmy Carter, recommended moving toward a photo ID requirement back in 2005."

  • Location in script: Counterargument section, approximately paragraph 12.
  • Note: Confirmed accurate. The commission was co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III (not "Jimmy Carter" alone as might be implied by "co-chaired by Jimmy Carter"). The commission did recommend photo ID, and critically, it recommended the IDs be free and universally accessible with mobile units to reach underserved populations. The script correctly notes this context later. However, the commission was formally called the "Commission on Federal Election Reform," and Baker served under George H.W. Bush, not as a generic Republican. Minor detail, but worth knowing if the host wants precision.

Sources Consulted

Source Material (from 00-source-material/)

  • source-01-rational-league-save-act.md -- The Rational League Substack analysis
  • source-02-nbc-house-passes-save-act.md -- NBC News, February 11, 2026
  • source-03-democracy-docket-analysis.md -- Democracy Docket, February 11, 2026
  • source-04-brennan-center-response.md -- Brennan Center for Justice, February 11, 2026
  • source-05-senate-filibuster-dynamics.md -- NBC News/CNBC, February 10-14, 2026

Independent Verification Sources

Clean Claims

The following major factual claims in the script checked out and are on solid ground:

  • House vote: 218-213, party-line, every Republican yes, every Democrat but one no. Confirmed by NBC News, Congress.gov, and multiple outlets. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) was the sole Democratic yes vote.

  • Kansas 0.002% noncitizen registration rate. Confirmed. Federal court found 39 noncitizens registered over 14 years out of 1.76 million registered voters.

  • Kansas blocked roughly 31,000 eligible citizens (12% of applicants). Confirmed by Brennan Center analysis, KMUW reporting, and federal court records from Fish v. Kobach / 10th Circuit.

  • 31 credible cases of in-person voter impersonation out of more than one billion ballots. Confirmed. This is from Justin Levitt's 2014 Washington Post investigation, widely cited and peer-reviewed through the Goel et al. (2020) study in the American Political Science Review.

  • Utah found one noncitizen out of 2 million voters (April 2025 - January 2026 review). Confirmed by Democracy Docket, KSL News, Deseret News. The individual never voted and was registered due to a clerical error.

  • 21 million U.S. citizens of voting age lack ready access to documentary proof of citizenship. Confirmed. The precise figure from the Brennan Center / CDCE / VoteRiders national survey is 21.3 million (9.1% of voting-age citizens).

  • Roughly half of Americans don't have a passport. Confirmed. Current estimates place passport ownership at 45-50% of Americans.

  • 69 million married women with surname changes face documentation mismatches. Confirmed by Center for American Progress, 19th News, NPR, and FactCheck.org. Based on 84% of married women changing surnames.

  • 83% support voter ID, including 71% of Democrats and 76% of Black voters. Confirmed. This is from a 2025 Pew Research Center survey. The script accurately cites the breakdowns.

  • Veasey v. Abbott: Fifth Circuit found discriminatory effect under the Voting Rights Act. Confirmed. The en banc Fifth Circuit ruled 9-6 in 2016 that Texas SB 14 violated Section 2 of the VRA.

  • North Carolina: Fourth Circuit found voting law targeted African Americans "with almost surgical precision." Confirmed. NAACP v. McCrory, 831 F.3d 204 (4th Cir. 2016). Quote is exact.

  • Mike Johnson quote: "just common sense" and the cold medicine comparison. Confirmed verbatim from NBC News coverage of the February 11, 2026 vote.

  • Murkowski quote and opposition. Confirmed. Her X/Twitter post stated: "When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections."

  • Every Senate Republican voted against the For the People Act in 2021. Confirmed. The June 22, 2021 cloture vote was 50-50 on party lines, with all 50 Republicans voting no.

  • 50 Senate backers for SAVE Act. Confirmed. 49 Republican co-sponsors plus Collins's announced support brings the total to 50.

  • Mike Lee pushing to reform the filibuster; Thune says it's not happening. Confirmed by NBC News, CNBC, and multiple outlets.

  • Noncitizen voting is already a federal crime punishable by imprisonment and deportation. Confirmed. 18 U.S.C. Section 611 (fines and up to 1 year imprisonment); immigration consequences include deportation and inadmissibility under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

  • Student IDs explicitly prohibited by the bill. Confirmed by Brennan Center analysis of bill text and multiple independent sources.

  • Tribal IDs require an expiration date, though many tribal IDs lack them. Confirmed by Brennan Center and bill text analysis.

  • France issues national identity cards at no cost. Confirmed. Initial issuance and renewals are free; only replacement for loss/theft costs 25 euros.

  • Germany automatically registers voters and mails polling notifications. Confirmed. Germany's mandatory residence registration system (Anmeldung) automatically places eligible citizens on electoral rolls; voters receive notification cards at least 21 days before elections.

  • Carter-Baker Commission recommended IDs be free and universally accessible. Confirmed. The 2005 report recommended free voter photo IDs with mobile units to reach underserved populations.

  • The bill creates criminal exposure for election officials who register applicants without documentation. Confirmed by bill text, Bipartisan Policy Center analysis, and Campaign Legal Center.

  • Kansas requirement was struck down by a federal court. Confirmed. Struck down in 2018 by U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson; upheld by 10th Circuit in 2020; Supreme Court denied certiorari.

  • Democrats also wanted to change the filibuster for election legislation in 2021. Confirmed. Senate Democrats attempted to pass a filibuster carve-out for voting rights legislation in January 2022, which failed 52-48 (with Manchin and Sinema joining all Republicans).