Likely voters by more than a 2-to-1 rate want the SAVE Act passed, Overwhelmingly believe on U.S. citizens who’ll be allowed to vote, and believe non-citizens are illegally registered to vote

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey (May 10 to 12, 2026 of 1,060 likely voters) found voters strongly support the SAVE Act—which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections— by a 63% to 30% margin, with strong support among all groups of voters except Democrats, liberals, and those with a graduate school education. (The Excel file is at the end of this post.) Ironically, despite the claim that this discriminates against minorities, support is much greater among Hispanics than whites (76% for Hispanics and 60% for whites) and even slightly greater about blacks than whites (62% for blacks and 60% for whites). Those who didn’t graduate from high school (79%) or graduated from high school (69%) were much more supportive than those who graduated from graduate school (47%).

In 2026, Los Angeles City Council members Hugo Soto-Martínez and Ysabel Jurado introduced a proposal to let non-citizens to vote in Los Angeles municipal elections. New York City’s Democratic-controlled City Council passed a law in 2021 allowing certain legal non-citizens — including green card holders and work-authorized immigrants — to vote in municipal elections. The law would have applied to races for mayor, city council, comptroller, borough president, and other city offices. But nationally likely voters overwhelmingly oppose letting non-citizens vote in U.S. elections by a 84% to 10% margin (the survey doesn’t distinguish local elections from other races). All groups of voters support only citizens voting, though the support is lowest for 18 to 29 year olds (70% to 21%), blacks (66% to 23%), Democrats (76% to 16%), and liberals (77% to 14%). So the margins are extremely large even for those groups.

Some states have audited their voter rolls and identified non-citizens who were illegally registered to vote. Nationwide, 52% of likely voters believe non-citizens are likely registered illegally in their state, including 31% who say it is “Very Likely.” By contrast, 38% believe such registrations are unlikely, including 21% who say they are “Not At All Likely.” Republicans are the most likely to believe non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in their state, with 73% saying it is at least somewhat likely. Among Democrats, 34% hold that view, along with 52% of voters who are not affiliated with either major party.