- United States
- Alaska
- Letter
Vote against the SAVE America Act. This legislation, inserted into H. Con. Res. 113 and passed by a razor-thin 216-214 margin, would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections — and it would gut Native American voter participation in the process. Tribal IDs issued by sovereign tribal governments often don't include place of birth, meaning they may not satisfy the requirements. For Native voters in rural and remote communities, getting a passport or certified birth certificate means long travel distances, time off work, and real costs many can't absorb.
OJ Semans, co-executive director of Four Directions Native Vote, didn't mince words: this bill would "annihilate the Native vote turnout all across America within and without Indian Country." The Native American Rights Fund agrees it would disproportionately harm American Indian and Alaska Native voters. Congress granted Native Americans citizenship in 1924, and Native communities spent decades fighting discriminatory barriers to the ballot. Reviving those barriers — even indirectly — is not election security. It's voter suppression. Kill this bill.