Orange County’s top election official says the federal effort to require voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship when they register to vote or update their registration could cost the county more than $6 million a year to implement.
The Orange County Registrar of Voters’ office, led by Bob Page, said the county would need to hire 59 new staffers just to handle in-person document checks if the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — also known as the SAVE Act — becomes law. That’s based on the 633,568 voter registration updates and new sign-ups the county processed by mail or online last year.
Assuming each voter registration takes about 10 minutes, the county would need 57 new staff members to process them and two supervisors, the registrar said. Labor costs alone would top $4.7 million a year, according to the registrar’s estimate.
In addition to staff, other costs would include:
• $1.1 million a year to lease workspace for new employees,
• A one-time $354,000 cost for cubicles and furniture, and
• Additional expenses for computers, scanners and phones.
The registrar’s office also expects higher costs to train more vote center staff to help people who register and vote on the same day. California allows eligible residents to register and vote on the same day during the 14 days leading up to an election, including Election Day itself.
The registrar concluded its statement by raising a question to federal lawmakers, “Will Congress appropriate the funds local and state elections officials need to implement the SAVE Act?”
Rep. Chip Roy, the Texas Republican who introduced the bill, did not respond to a request for comment through a spokesperson.
The SAVE Act, which passed the House on Thursday, April 10, would require people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
Under the bill, all applicants — whether registering online, by mail or in person — would need to submit a document including a U.S. passport, a REAL ID that shows citizenship, or a certified birth certificate with a matching photo ID.
The bill also would require states to check voters’ citizenship status regularly using federal databases and remove anyone found to be ineligible.
Election officials who register voters without proper proof could face criminal penalties. However, the bill also would allow people to cast a provisional ballot if they can’t immediately prove they’re a U.S. citizen — but the ballot would only count if they’re able to prove their citizenship later.
Supporters of the bill argued it would prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal.
“Safeguarding our democracy starts with protecting the ballot box, and protecting the ballot box starts with ensuring that only American citizens are registered to vote,” said Will O’Neill, chair of the Republican Party of Orange County.
In California, a state with nearly 23 million registered voters, there were 43 documented cases of false registration or ineligible voting over the past two decades, according to research by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
That lines up with findings from the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal-leaning nonprofit focused on law and public policy. In a review of 42 jurisdictions that tabulated 23.5 million votes during the 2016 general election, the Center said local election officials reported only about 30 cases of suspected noncitizen voting for further investigation or prosecution.
In January, the Orange County grand jury released a report saying there was no evidence of fraud or election interference in the November 2024 election.
Opponents of the federal effort, including California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, argue that it’s an unnecessary move to stop something that’s already illegal. They say it would only make it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballots, especially for those who don’t have easy access to proof of citizenship.
The SAVE Act would also “burden election administration by imposing unrealistic, costly and unnecessary requirements on state and local elections officials and threaten them with fines and jail time for doing their jobs,” Weber said in a statement.
The Trump administration has been pushing for broad changes to U.S. elections, beyond just requiring proof of citizenship to register.
In a March executive order, President Donald Trump called for stricter voting rules, including not counting ballots received after Election Day and banning non-U.S. citizens from donating in certain elections.
The SAVE Act passed the House in a 220-208 vote. All Republicans voted in favor, and no California Democrats supported the measure.
The bill is now awaiting action in the Senate.