As National Voter Registration Day arrives on September 16, we reflect on the strength of broad civic engagement in our democracy and the threats it faces. While community groups nationwide are dedicated to boosting participation in the democratic process, both federal and state legislators are simultaneously pushing initiatives that achieve the opposite effect.
The inaccurately named SAVE Act, proposed by Congressional Republicans, which has passed the House and awaits Senate review, along with President Donald Trump’s election executive order and his commission on election integrity, are components of a larger national strategy to limit voting access. However, this danger isn’t confined to Capitol Hill and the White House; it’s also spreading quietly through laws and policies at the local level.
Less obvious but equally threatening is a surge of similar legislation in state legislatures and local governments across the nation—with hundreds introduced this year alone—mimicking federal attempts to use voter suppression tactics to invalidate the ballots of eligible Americans.
From Florida to Ohio to Michigan, state lawmakers are advocating for legislation that would compel voters to verify their citizenship with documents such as birth certificates or passports. Such proposals would disproportionately affect groups already encountering systemic barriers to voting, including students, active-duty military personnel, Black and Brown voters, rural populations, and low-income Americans.
The SAVE Act has essentially served as authorization for state lawmakers to pursue analogous restrictions, frequently justified by misinformation disguised as fact. These efforts divert attention from the genuine issues impacting our families and complicate the voting process for eligible citizens. The underlying objective is exclusion.
This approach manifests through what we term “pink lines”—seemingly minor measures that normalize and pave the way for more severe voting restrictions. While red lines signify overt crises, pink lines represent the subtle, calculated maneuvers that incrementally normalize disenfranchisement.
Over time, these “pink lines” can solidify into enduring obstacles that are challenging to dismantle—even after the claims used to justify them are disproven. They cumulatively form a system that denies our freedom to cast a ballot, undermines our election system, and fuels a broader crisis of legitimacy, thereby granting undue influence to those seeking to corrupt elections and eroding public confidence in democracy.
This constitutes a slow-motion crisis, which we are witnessing unfold state by state. Consider Florida, where legislators introduced a bill that initially demanded documentary proof of citizenship and was later revised to align with Trump’s election executive order. Or Ohio, where multiple bills would impose strict limits on voter registration and introduce criminal penalties for individuals failing to navigate new bureaucratic requirements. In Michigan, despite a similar measure failing to pass the state legislature, initiatives are currently circulating to place voter ID and citizenship documentation requirements on the 2026 ballot.
These proposals echo unsuccessful experiments from the past. In 2011, Kansas enacted a proof-of-citizenship law that ultimately prevented over 31,000 eligible citizens from registering to vote. Courts later declared it unconstitutional. Arizona’s version resulted in confusion for election officials, including a lack of clear instructions on how to process voter registration updates without birth certificates or passports—potentially disenfranchising thousands. History is repeating itself.
Beyond legislative actions, anti-voter activities are also emerging in local governance. In Wisconsin, officials in smaller towns have unilaterally removed or changed polling places, disregarding state guidelines. In Pennsylvania, individuals who have baselessly questioned the integrity of past elections and submitted widespread challenges to the eligibility of registered voters have sued for appointments to local election boards—raising concerns about potential voter intimidation and partisan interference in election administration.
We cannot afford to remain passive as “pink lines” harden into permanent barriers—potentially preventing millions of eligible Americans from voting. Trump’s election executive order, the SAVE Act, and their state-level counterparts are not isolated incidents. They form a coordinated strategy, alongside efforts to undertake an aggressive, mid-decade gerrymander, deploy a partisan election commission, and threaten to eliminate vote-by-mail.
Collectively, these attempts to exclude people from voting constitute a strategy to maintain power. We must take action: collaborating with communities, partners, and state and local officials to ensure every American can exercise their voice by registering, remaining on the rolls, and casting a ballot that will be counted. This entails rejecting efforts to restrict voting access, safeguarding secure and accessible election systems, and demanding that lawmakers champion pro-voter policies that expand access—such as automatic voter registration and nationwide early voting.
All of us—advocates, neighbors, and voters—must ensure our own registration is current, assist others in registering, and urge our representatives—from Capitol Hill to City Hall—to expand participation, not limit it.
We understand what democracy means: inclusion—where every vote is counted and every voice is heard at the ballot box.
National Voter Registration Day serves as a reminder that democracy begins with each of us. The 2026 election cycle has already commenced. Let us act accordingly—and safeguard the promise of democracy for everyone.
