Has Voting Become A Privilege?

In history classes, we typically learned that women earned the right to vote in 1920, and that’s where the chapter seemed to close on the struggle for women’s suffrage. What these books often don’t elaborate upon is the struggle to vote, even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Neely Tucker for the Library of Congress writes about the obstacles women of color still faced after 1920. “Asian American, Black, Latina, Native American – faced obstacles to voting through the 1960s because of citizenship issues, discriminatory practices and outright intimidation, some of which continue even today” (Tucker). Throughout history, as women’s rights have been long debated, one thing remains: women have consistently been fighting to earn their rights and to maintain them. While the ratification of the 19th Amendment is often interpreted as the end of the fight for women’s suffrage, barriers to voting have persisted for many women and those whose voices have been institutionally silenced.

Enter the SAVE Act – another instance in which a woman’s right to vote is being infringed upon. The SAVE Act, The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, requires voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID (Orey et al.). Many eligible citizens don’t have access to documentary proof of citizenship, and as written in the Bipartisan Policy Center, 52% of registered voters do not have an unexpired passport with their current legal name. This particularly impacts transgender individuals who have changed their name, women who have assumed their partner’s last name, and individuals from marginalized communities who don’t have access to their birth documents. 

On March 8th, President Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to advocate for (as he calls it) “The Save America Act.” In the post, Trump writes, “I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!”

This Act threatens the right to vote for many individuals who, for the test of time, have had to fight for their rights. As written by Piper Winton for the Feminist Majority Foundation, “Approximately 69 million American women have changed their last name after marriage and could face complications if their documents do not align.” The potential threat of this Act places a nearly dystopian threat to women and other marginalized individuals.

The requirement of these additional requirements disproportionately impacts those in communities that have preexisting obstacles to political participation. “Women, people of color, young people, and low-income Americans are less likely to have passports or immediate access to original birth certificates. Access to these documents is closely tied to income, education, and race” (Winton).

Simply put, if this Act is set into law, there would be no easy solution for many Americans whose right to vote is just as valid as everyone else’s, despite the SAVE Act presenting a bias to securing the rights of cisgender, heterosexual male voters. Poverty also disproportionately impacts Black, Latina, and Native American women, at a rate of more than twice the rate of white, non-Hispanic men (Gill). The Act fails to recognize the conditions of those in poverty who lack easy accessibility to the documents that may now be required to vote. “Replacing or obtaining citizenship documents often requires fees, transportation, and time off work—resources many families cannot easily spare” (Winton).

With the threat of this Act looming in the Senate to be soon voted on – whether successfully passed or not – it’s worth asking if women and historically silenced voices have ever earned the right to vote, or if it’s never been anything more than a momentary privilege.

Works Cited

Gill, Alison. “How the SAVE Act Could Disenfranchise Millions of Married Women and Trans Voters – National Women’s Law Center.” National Women’s Law Center, 27 Mar. 2025, nwlc.org/how-the-save-act-could-disenfranchise-millions-of-married-women-and-trans-voters/.

Orey, Wren, et al. “Five Things to Know about the SAVE Act.” Bipartisan Policy Center, 10 July 2024, bipartisanpolicy.org/article/five-things-to-know-about-the-save-act/.

Tucker, Neely. “The Suffrage Struggle after the 19th Amendment | Library of Congress Blog.” Blogs.loc.gov, 26 Aug. 2020, blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/08/the-suffrage-struggle-after-the-19th-amendment/.

Winton, Piper. “The SAVE Act: New Barriers for Women to the Ballot Box – Feminist Majority Foundation.” Feminist Majority Foundation, 27 Feb. 2026, feminist.org/news/the-save-act-new-barriers-for-women-to-the-ballot-box/.