Proposed Voter ID requirements could curb Oklahoma voting, critics warn

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — President Donald Trump is pushing for sweeping changes to voting across the U.S. Legislation before Congress, including the 'Save America Act', includes new proof of citizenship and Voter ID requirements.

At his 2026 State of the Union Address, Trump said, "Congress should unite and enact this common sense, country saving legislation right now. And it should be before anything else happens."

We're sifting through confusion and misinformation surrounding the proposal and what it would mean for Oklahomans who already have the lowest voter participation in the country.

Supporters of the Save America Act and similar efforts, including U.S. Representative Tom Cole, call it a simple, common sense measure.

"To make sure the people who do vote are legally eligible to vote," said Cole.

But others warn the sweeping proposed changes would block millions of eligible voters, especially when it comes to registering to vote. Registering would be only allowed in-person. And you would be required to show proof of U.S. citizenship by presenting your birth certificate or passport. A Real ID would not qualify as documentation to prove citizenship.

"You're just discouraging people from participating in a system that sorely needs every single one of us to participate," said Andy Moore, CEO of Let's Fix This, a non-partisan non profit aimed at boosting civic engagement.

More than 21 million Americans don’t have ready access to those documents, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, including many rural voters, people of color, and younger voters.

"I don't know where my actual birth certificate is off the top of my head," said Lena Buchanan, a student at the University of Central Oklahoma. "I'm fortunate to have a passport even."

Roughly half of Americans don’t have a passport.

We asked about the potential for an additional barrier on women who took their spouses' last names, or anyone whose birth certificates no longer match their legal name.

"Is that a genuine concern?" we asked Rep. Cole.

"This is an imaginary thing," the congressman responded. "These are people who've decided they don't like anything Trump is for."

"Why would anybody not want voter ID?" asked President Trump during his State of the Union address while pushing the Save America Act. "One reason, because they want to cheat. There's only one reason."

"Are our elections full of fraud and illegals voting?" we asked Moore.

"They're really not," he said. "There's been a mountain of research that looked at this especially over the last 5 years."

The state of Utah recently completed a comprehensive review of all 2.1 million voters in that state. They found no instances of undocumented people voting,

"They found one person who was registered and should not have been, but that person never voted. This is a clear sign that voter fraud doesn't actually happen," said Moore.

"That's right," said Rep. Cole. "I don't think there is massive fraud in voter elections, but I also think there's the potential for it."

A solution to a 'potential' problem that, if passed, would require Oklahoma to act fast.

"This would place a huge burden on election administrators in every state. this amounts to an unfunded mandate from the federal government," said Moore. "That rushed timeline should be a big concern."

The measure has already passed the house. Now many supporters are pushing for aggressive tactics to get it passed in the senate, including trying to tie the bill to DHS funding.

Meanwhile, Trump has said he is interested in taking unilateral action on elections, with or without congress.

For more local news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter by clicking here.