Senate rejects constitutional 'SAVE' amendment that would have limited voting to 'only' U.S. citizens

The Georgia Senate debated and then rejected SR838, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have specified that only U.S. citizens may vote in state elections and would have required photographic identification at the polls.

Senator from the 27th (S27), who introduced the resolution, described it as the "state version" of the federal SAVE proposal and said the change would prevent any future law that allowed noncitizen voting in local elections. “If changing 'every' to 'only' prevents future legislatures from extending voting to noncitizens, that is the intent,” he said.

Opponents challenged whether the amendment was necessary or whether it would be redundant with existing constitutional language. Senator (S15) noted the constitution already states that electors must be U.S. citizens and questioned whether the amendment would meaningfully change the law; Senator (S11) called it a “fig leaf” and argued the measure could be used to justify additional voting restrictions. Others said the resolution risked creating new administrative burdens, particularly because the amendment would require the General Assembly to define permissible forms of photographic identification.

Floor debate included concerns about enforcement, the potential interaction of a new constitutional provision with qualifying rules and implementation by statute, and the possibility that a future majority could change the required ID before an election. Supporters argued they wanted to enshrine current practice in the constitution and guard against potential future changes.

The resolution failed to reach the two‑thirds threshold necessary for a constitutional amendment; the recorded vote on adoption was 32 yeas and 23 nays, short of the 38 votes required.

Provenance: SR838 was introduced and debated extensively on the Senate floor (introduction at SEG 3369; final vote outcome reported near SEG 4124).