1. United States
2. Wisc.
3. Letter

I urge you to oppose the SAVE Act, which the House passed for the second time in April 2025. While this legislation claims to protect election integrity, it would create unnecessary barriers that prevent eligible American citizens from exercising their fundamental right to vote. It is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. Voters in every state are currently required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering. The SAVE Act's requirement for documentary proof of citizenship is redundant and would only serve to disenfranchise legitimate voters. This legislation would disproportionately harm specific groups of Americans. Military families would need to present documentation every time they re-register when they move to new duty stations, adding bureaucratic hurdles to those who serve our country. Disaster victims who have lost their documents while rebuilding their lives would face additional obstacles. Americans who have changed their names, including married women, would need to secure updated documentation before registering. The racial disparities in document access are particularly concerning. Citizens of color are three times more likely than white citizens to lack necessary documents like birth certificates, passports, naturalization certificates, or certificates of citizenship. While approximately half of all American adults possess a passport, two-thirds of Black Americans do not. This legislation would effectively create a two-tiered system where some citizens face significantly higher barriers to registration than others. Rather than solving a documented problem, the SAVE Act would create new obstacles for eligible voters. I ask you to vote against this legislation and instead support measures that make voter registration more accessible while maintaining the security protections already in place.