1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

I am writing as a concerned citizen to respectfully urge you to oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.  I've read numerous articles as well as data from the Brennan Center for Justice, Bipartisan Policy Center, Legal Defense Fund, The Arc, Campaign Legal Center, and others. And I am convinced that the SAVE ACT is not in the best interest of our democracy and our voters. While I agree that only eligible U.S. citizens should vote in federal elections, current law already requires citizenship and provides penalties for unlawful voting. Evidence shows that noncitizen voting is extremely rare and has not been shown to impact election outcomes.  The SAVE Act would impose new documentation requirements that risk disenfranchising eligible American citizens. Millions of voters do not have easy access to documents such as passports or certified birth certificates, and many would face additional burdens if their legal names have changed due to marriage or other life events.  In practice, similar proof-of-citizenship requirements have already prevented significant numbers of eligible voters from registering. For example, in Kansas, such a law blocked tens of thousands of qualified citizens from registering to vote.  The bill would also create serious challenges for election administration. It would complicate or eliminate widely used registration methods such as mail and online registration, introduce uncertainty in how documentation is verified, and expose election officials to legal risk—even when they act in good faith. This proposed restrictions involving mail An online access ad even more barriers to the ones that Americans with disabilities already face and trying to exercise their right to vote. These things aren't just conveniences, they are civil rights. There are more effective and less burdensome ways to ensure voter eligibility. Experts recommend that citizenship verification be handled through existing government systems rather than requiring individual voters to produce documents at the time of registration.  Protecting election integrity and protecting access to voting should go hand in hand. The SAVE Act, as currently written, risks undermining that balance by placing unnecessary barriers in front of eligible citizens. I respectfully ask that you oppose this legislation or work to significantly revise it to ensure that no eligible American is prevented from exercising their fundamental right to vote. Thank you for your time and for your service to our country.