Congress Must Stop New Federal Barriers To Voter Registration

SENATE MUST REJECT THE SAVE AMERICA ACT IN ANY FORM As a constituent, I urge you to vote NO on the House-passed SAVE America Act language attached to S. 1383, and to oppose any substitute, package, or look-alike that imposes new federal documentary-proof requirements for voter registration. I support secure elections. But election safeguards must be evidence-based and narrowly tailored - and this approach is overbroad because it will block eligible citizens who cannot quickly produce specific documents. THE BILL WOULD BLOCK ELIGIBLE CITIZENS FROM REGISTERING Requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship (for example, a passport or birth certificate) sounds straightforward but is not straightforward in real life. Many eligible Americans do not have ready access to these documents, and getting replacements can be costly, time-consuming, and difficult - especially for seniors, rural voters, students, low-income voters, and people whose legal names changed due to marriage, divorce, or court order. THE BILL IS UNNECESSARY AND MISDIRECTED Noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections, and election officials and major reporting describe noncitizen voting as rare. A policy that risks turning lawful voters away from registration is not an acceptable trade-off for a problem existing law already targets. THE BILL WOULD INCREASE ERRORS, DELAYS, AND PRIVACY RISKS Election administration is run by state and local officials who already operate under tight staffing and budgets. A federal documentary-proof mandate would add new paperwork, copying, verification, and record-handling burdens that increase errors, delays, and wrongful rejections. It would also require election offices to copy, store, and transmit more sensitive personal documents than they do today, increasing privacy and data-security risks. Major reporting indicates the House-passed package also includes a nationwide photo ID requirement and voter-roll checks using federal databases. PLEASE TAKE THESE STEPS (1) Publicly commit to opposing the SAVE America Act and any federal proof-of-citizenship mandate that conditions federal voter registration on producing specific documents. (2) Oppose any attempt to attach these provisions to must-pass legislation or to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. (3) Pursue bipartisan, evidence-based election improvements that strengthen security and administration without disenfranchising eligible voters.