Cranston elections director warns SAVE Act, presidential order could jeopardize funding and voter access

Nick Lima, Cranston’s registrar and director of elections, told the City Council on April 28 that a recent presidential executive order and pending federal legislation known as the SAVE Act could threaten federal funding, complicate voting-system certification and create new administrative requirements that would affect local election operations.

Lima said the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) currently provide standards and funding the city relies on; the executive order would add a passport-or-equivalent requirement to the federal voter-registration form, and could attach future funding to states’ compliance with new standards. "This presentation does not convey the opinions or represent the EAC," Lima said, speaking in his capacity as Cranston’s elections director. He added bluntly, "it's pretty much clear as mud," describing the policy and litigation landscape.

The nut graf: federal HAVA grants and EAC-certified equipment are central to how municipalities run elections; at stake, Lima said, are future grants and the timing and feasibility of deploying new voting equipment if federal standards are rewritten and funding curtailed.

Lima briefed the council on several points: federal law (HAVA and the National Voter Registration Act) governs many aspects of local election administration; the EAC sets voluntary voting-system guidelines (VVSG) and distributes federal funds for equipment and security; and the executive order seeks both documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal registration forms and changes to certification standards that could render some current systems noncompliant. He said Rhode Island has received more than $22 million in HAVA funding since 2004 and that Cranston alone has drawn about $115,000 in HAVA funds since 2019.

Lima described several operational concerns if the executive order or the SAVE Act were implemented as written: requiring passports or certified birth certificates for every registration or registration update would impose a large workload on local offices and could disenfranchise voters (he cited roughly 215 federal postcard application overseas ballots in 2024 as an at-risk group). He said the SAVE Act, which passed the U.S. House in April, would create a documentary-proof requirement for registrations, add a private right of action to sue local officials, and impose criminal penalties on officials for mistakes. "None of the drafters appear to have consulted a single election administrator," Lima said, quoting legal scholar Ben Ginsberg as appearing on his slides.

Lima also warned that the EAC-mandated timeline for revising standards would be infeasible: manufacturers do not currently produce equipment compliant with an updated VVSG on such a short timetable, and the result could be both equipment decertification and delayed procurements. He said some parts of the executive order were already the subject of litigation and that preliminary injunctions have limited parts of the action; he and other officials expect protracted court fights that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

On election-security support, Lima said many federal resources used in recent years have been reduced or eliminated: CISA funding for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center was cut, and federal task forces and cyber staff that previously assisted election jurisdictions have been reassigned. He called this a loss of a "layer" in a layered cybersecurity approach and said Cranston’s IT team is working to fill gaps.

The board of canvassers in Cranston voted 3–0 on March 19 to oppose the SAVE Act as drafted; Lima reported the board’s position to the council. He said the canvassing office plans a tabletop exercise on June 25 that will include city police, fire and IT staff, and that further briefings will follow as litigation and federal policy evolve.

Council members thanked Lima for the briefing. Council Vice President Wall said the presentation was detailed and useful. Council President Marino asked staff to keep the council informed as the federal picture changes.

Ending: Lima urged council members to read the materials in the meeting packet for more detail and said the city will continue planning exercises and coordination with state and federal partners as the legal and policy situation develops.