We've also updated our relevant early voting explainer with details on what a yes vote or a no vote actually votes for regarding this amendment.

The Republican governors of Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Utah have all recently signed their states’ own versions of the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote in all 50 states that Trump has made his top legislative priority. In several other states, measures to add additional language into their constitutions explicitly prohibiting non-citizens from voting are on the ballot in the November midterms. And in still more, efforts to get amendments of that kind on the ballot are underway and state legislators are weighing bills to introduce proof of citizenship requirements or otherwise restrict voting access.

Trump and Republican lawmakers have claimed that such measures are critical to counter widespread voter fraud and ensure election security. But research shows that non-citizen voting and fraud are already extremely rare in U.S. elections. And mandating that Americans provide proof of citizenship in order to register or vote could present a challenging hurdle for many citizens: The Brennan Center for Justice found in a 2023 survey that more than 21 million citizens of voting age, or about 9 percent, don’t have ready access to such documents.

Here are some of the states where new voting restrictions have been signed into law, or will be put before voters this year.

Signed into law: Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Utah

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday that will impose stricter voter ID requirements and requires Floridians to show proof of citizenship to register.

“Today I signed the election integrity bill, also known as the Florida SAVE Act. This legislation strengthens the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system,” DeSantis said in a statement. “In Florida, we will always stand up for election integrity.”

The new law will also require that the citizenship of every already-registered voter be verified by checking Florida voter rolls against federal and state records. Voters who are flagged as potential non-citizens will then be notified and have to provide proof of citizenship in order to remain registered.

The law’s major provisions will not take effect until after the 2026 midterms.

The measure was quickly challenged by a coalition of voting rights organizations, who filed a lawsuit after DeSantis signed the bill seeking to block it from going into effect. The groups argue the new rules will make it “harder for eligible U.S. citizens to vote—and for some, impossible,” and that they violate both the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

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On the ballot in November: Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota (again), and West Virginia

Measures will be on the ballot in several states on November 3 that would amend the states’ constitutions or laws to include language barring non-citizens from voting.

In Arkansas, an amendment to the state constitution would specify that "only a citizen of the United States meeting the qualifications of an elector" can vote in elections in the state and that "a person who does not meet the qualifications of an elector under this section shall not be permitted to vote in any state or local election held in this state."

Arkansas’ constitution currently states that people may vote if they are at least 18 years of age, a resident of the state, a citizen, and legally registered. 

In Kansas, an amendment would change the state constitution to hold that “no person shall be deemed a qualified elector” unless they are a U.S. citizen, are at least 18 years old, and live in the area where they’re seeking to vote.

The state constitution currently states that “every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years and who resides in the voting area in which he or she seeks to vote shall be deemed a qualified elector.”

An amendment on the West Virginia ballot would slightly tweak the wording of the state’s constitution from saying that "citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote" to "only citizens of the state who are citizens of the United States are entitled to vote."

In addition to South Dakota’s recently signed bill, a proposed amendment will be on the November ballot that would add text to the state constitution stating that an “individual who is not a citizen of the United States is disqualified from voting in any election or upon any question submitted to the voters of this state."

The South Dakota constitution currently says that “every United States citizen eighteen years of age or older who has met all residency and registration requirements shall be entitled to vote in all elections and upon all questions submitted to the voters of the state unless disqualified by law for mental incompetence or the conviction of a felony.”

In Alaska, a measure that would amend a state statute to state that only citizens can qualify as voters in the state has also qualified for the November ballot.

The ballot initiative would amend an existing voter qualification law in Alaska that states that "a person may vote at any election who is a citizen of the United States” to read "only a person who is a citizen of the United States … may vote at any election."

In Michigan, a similar measure has been proposed, but has not yet officially made it onto the November ballot.

Americans for Citizen Voting, the organization leading the push for the ballot initiative, said it had collected well over the number of signatures required to put the proposed constitutional amendment before voters, but the Michigan Bureau of Elections has yet to verify the signatures. 

In Arizona, a measure has been proposed that would amend the state constitution to include language stating that “only citizens of the United States shall be eligible to register and vote once for each available office or ballot measure, in any primary, general or municipal election in Arizona” and to require voters to provide “acceptable” government-issued identification to cast a ballot, among other things.  Both chambers of the state legislature have voted to refer the measure to be added to the November ballot, but is not yet officially on it.

For the first time since Donald Trump returned to the White House, his net approval rating among white working-class voters has turned negative, according to a CNN/SSRS pollconducted between 26 and 30 March 2026. The survey recorded 49 per cent of white working-class voters approving of Trump's performance, against 50 per cent who disapproved — a net rating of minus one. It is the first time that the figure has dipped below zero in his second term.

The pace of the reversal is equally notable. As recently as mid-February, CNN/SSRS polling had Trump at 54 per cent approval and 46 per cent disapproval among this group — a net positive of eight points — a cushion that evaporated in under six weeks.

A Year-Long Slide in the Numbers

The March result did not emerge in isolation. In late February 2025, two CNN polls showed Trump at 63-37 and 61-38 among white working-class voters. By July 2025, the split had narrowed to 54-45. By January 2026, it stood at 52-47 — still positive, but shrinking — before crossing into negative territory by late March.

Fox News polling pointed in the same direction. Among white non-college men specifically, a Fox News survey in March 2025 showed Trump at 58 per cent approval against 41 per cent disapproval. By March 2026, that had shifted to 48 per cent approval and 52 per cent disapproval — a swing of 21 net points over twelve months. The trajectory is consistent across different polling organisations, which makes it harder to dismiss as a single-outlet anomaly.

CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten has been among the most direct in his assessment. Drawing on CNN exit poll data, his own polling aggregate, and Pew Research Center figures, Enten described what he called a '23-point switch' — from Trump winning working-class voters by 14 points over Kamala Harris in 2024, to a current net approval of negative nine. 'He is absolutely collapsing with the group of voters that helped put him into the White House,' Enten said.

Economy Central to the Discontent

The White House has pointed to economic progress, but polling tells a different story. Trump's approval rating for handling the economy has fallen to a new career low of 31 per cent, with roughly two-thirds of Americans saying his policies have worsened economic conditions — up 10 points since January. Just 27 per cent approve of how he has handled inflation, down from 44 per cent one year ago.

Petrol prices, now averaging above $4 per gallon (approximately £3.02) nationally following the US strike on Iran, are compounding the pressure. More than six in ten Americans say they are still cutting back on groceries and discretionary spending, and 45 per cent say they have reduced how much they drive, up five points over the past year. Overall, 63 per cent say higher costs at the pump have caused at least some financial hardship in their household.

A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll conducted between 20 and 25 March 2026 placed Trump's overall approval at 33 per cent, the lowest of his second term, with 17 per cent of people who voted for him in 2024 now expressing reservations about that choice.

The administration has pushed back on the data without engaging with it directly. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said: 'The ultimate poll was November 5, 2024, when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda.' A separate spokesperson added that 'the president has already made historic progress not only in America, but around the world,' and that it was 'not surprising that President Trump remains the most dominant figure in American politics.'

What It Means for the Midterms

The Republican Party's standing with working-class voters has also softened more broadly. Republicans carried this group by 13 points in the 2024 presidential cycle; new polling puts that margin at just four. 'When you can count it on one hand, you know that you're in trouble,' Enten said.

Whether Democrats can convert that discontent into actual votes in November remains an open question. Scott Tranter, director of data science at Decision Desk HQ, offered a measured assessment: 'If a team fumbles and you get the ball, you don't actually score until you do something with it.'

White working-class voters have formed the majority of Trump's coalition across all three of his presidential campaigns. A sustained shift among this group — not a momentary dip, but a trend line running consistently in one direction for over a year — would represent something more than a rough patch.

A man who participated in a training session at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office was arrested for stealing sensitive computer equipment, authorities announced Sunday.

John Panicci was taken into custody Saturday at his home following an investigation into the theft of an encrypted access key from a voter registration terminal at the elections office.

The incident occurred during a volunteer training session on March 19 for the March 24 election. According to detectives, Panicci stole the encrypted access key during the training at the elections office located at 4301 Cherry Road.

While the stolen key was configured only for training databases, officials expressed concern that someone with technical knowledge could reverse-engineer the encryption and reintroduce it into a voter registration kiosk for malicious purposes.

The theft was reported to authorities on March 27, prompting an investigation by Palm Beach County detectives. After identifying Panicci as the suspect and establishing probable cause, investigators obtained both an arrest warrant and a residential search warrant.

During the search of Panicci’s home, detectives recovered the stolen items along with a substantial amount of electronic and digital storage devices. Panicci was transported to the Palm Beach County Jail and booked on charges.

He made his initial court appearance Sunday morning. 

Online jail records show he is being held on a $6,000 bond.

The investigation highlights security concerns surrounding election equipment, even when configured for training purposes only. The elections office had been conducting the volunteer training session in preparation for the March 24 special election.

The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections said Monday that Panicci was a paid poll worker who worked three previous elections — 2016, 2018 and 2024. Panicci was invited back to work on the March 24 election. 

Panicci was terminated the same day as the training session after the encryption key was missing, and officials reviewed surveillance cameras. The supervisor of elections said Panicci never worked the polls during the election held on March 24.