Republicans have a plan to keep women from voting: report

Between a series of Democratic election victories in late 2025 and early 2026 and President Donald Trump's weak approval ratings in a long list of recent polls, Republican strategists are growing increasingly worried about this year's midterms —which are a little over nine months away.

Never Trump conservative and New York Times columnist David French fears that Trump and his allies will use militarized U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raids to "intimidate" non-white voters in November. And Guardian opinion columnist Arwa Mahdawi worries that MAGA Republicans will resort to another tactic to discourage Democratic voter turnout: making it harder for women to vote.

Mahdawi is especially concerned about the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility), which, if passed, would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require "documentary proof of United States citizenship" in order to vote. The SAVE Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025 but is stalled in the U.S. Senate.

In her Sunday, February 1 column, Mahdawi argues, "As the U.S. grows increasingly violent, increasingly cruel, every day brings a legion of new horrors. So I'm very sorry to say that I'm here to ruin your weekend by giving you yet another thing to worry about. That thing is called the Save Act, and if the Trump Administration gets its way, it could have an oversized impact on the November midterms — particularly when it comes to minorities and married women being able to vote."

Mahdawi contends that the SAVE Act's goal is "disenfranchisement" of female voters.

"If it became law, the Save Act would require Americans to provide a birth certificate, passport, or other citizenship document to register or re-register to vote," the columnist explains. "Per one Brennan Center Study, more that 21 million American citizens, many of whom are engaged voters, do not have easy access to these documents. While just over 8 percent of self-identified white American citizens don't have these documents readily available, the Brennan Center found the number is nearly 11 percent among Americans of color."

Mahdawi adds, "Women who changed their name when they got married may also face a logistical nightmare: reports show that as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse's name don't have a birth certificate that matches their legal name."

Arwa Mahdawi's full column for The Guardian is available at this link.