| Huntington, NY — The U.S. Congress is fast-tracking passage of the so-called SAVE Act, a bill that would require all Americans to provide a birth certificate, passport, or one of a few other citizenship documents when they not only register for the first time, but need to register again because they’ve moved, or, as married women often do, have changed their names. “The potential passage of this bill calls for emergency action to stop this effort to disenfranchise millions of American voters,” said Deb Cosher, a leader of the Huntington League of Women Voters. More than 21 million American citizens don’t have the documents named in the proposal readily available, according to survey data. The bill, H.R. 22, euphemistically called the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act,” was moved to committee with a vote of 81-0 by House Republicans. A full vote in the House is expected on or around Feb. 25. It is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. Americans do not need MORE obstacles to vote. Calling this an emergency because of that time frame, the Huntington League urges voters to immediately contact their Congressional representatives. “This is a blatant attempt to prevent and suppress voting, particularly people of color and young people, groups of individuals who are less likely than the average American to have the necessary documents,” according to the Brennen Center for Justice. Compared to white U.S. citizens, citizens of color are three times more likely to lack documents such as birth certificates, passports, naturalization certificates, etc., or face difficulties accessing them. For example, while approximately half of all American adults possess a passport, two-thirds of Black Americans do not. What’s more, the bill would obliterate or upend longstanding and popular methods of voter registration for all voters, including registration by mail, voter registration drives, online voter registration, and automatic voter registration. The bill would functionally eliminate mail registration by requiring voters registering by mail to produce citizenship documents “in person” to an election official before the registration deadline. Registering voters has been essential to the League of Women Voters since our founding 105 years ago. “We won’t stand by and let this attack on democracy go unanswered,” concluded Cosher. |