1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 221-198. This legislation addresses an essentially nonexistent problem while creating substantial barriers that would prevent millions of legitimate American citizens from exercising their fundamental right to vote. The bill, drafted by Rep. Chip Roy, would overhaul the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by requiring documentary proof of citizenship such as a passport or birth certificate at the time of registration. This requirement would disenfranchise significant numbers of eligible voters. According to a survey by the Brennan Center for Justice and other democracy groups, more than 9% of American citizens of voting age, totaling 21.3 million people, don't have proof of citizenship readily available. At least 3.8 million Americans don't have these documents at all because they were lost, destroyed, or stolen. The problem this bill claims to solve simply does not exist at any meaningful scale. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is extremely rare. The current system, which allows states to require signed affidavits affirming citizenship with criminal penalties for lying, already provides adequate safeguards. The bill's language contains troubling ambiguities that could further restrict voting rights. It remains unclear whether states would have to accept documents from people whose names have legally changed due to marriage or gender transition. Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan pointed out that the bill's language ignores U.S. territories, further disenfranchising his constituents. Rather than creating new obstacles to voting, we should be working to expand access to the ballot box for all eligible citizens. I urge you to oppose the SAVE Act and any similar legislation that would make it harder for Americans to participate in our democracy.