1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I urge you to vote no on the SAVE Act, which would impose documentary proof of citizenship requirements on all voter registration for federal elections. This legislation threatens to disenfranchise eligible American citizens while addressing a problem that evidence shows is virtually non-existent. The SAVE Act amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require documents like birth certificates, passports, or naturalization certificates before states can accept any voter registration. This mandate would force states to audit existing voter rolls and remove registrations lacking citizenship documentation, affecting millions of currently registered voters. The bill provides no federal funding for these requirements despite imposing massive costs on state and local governments for new verification systems, database integration, and personnel training. The documentary burden falls hardest on eligible citizens who are elderly, low-income, or naturalized decades ago. Many Americans do not routinely possess passports, and obtaining birth certificates or naturalization records can involve significant costs and bureaucratic obstacles, particularly for those born in states with incomplete vital records systems. If document acquisition costs effectively condition voting on payment, this raises serious constitutional concerns under the Twenty-Fourth Amendment's prohibition on poll taxes. The legislation creates a private right of action allowing citizens to sue election officials for non-compliance, inviting extensive litigation that will overwhelm administrators and create legal uncertainty. States face the enormous administrative challenge of retroactively verifying millions of existing registrations while processing new applications under rigid requirements that offer no hardship exceptions or alternative verification methods. This bill solves a non-existent problem while creating substantial barriers for eligible voters. I ask you to protect the fundamental right to vote by opposing the SAVE Act and supporting election policies that expand rather than restrict access for eligible citizens.