There’s a bill in Congress to make voting harder for EVERYONE
by Sue Racanelli
On April 10, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, passed the US House and is on its way to the Senate. The League of Women Voters of Vermont (LWVVT) opposes the SAVE Act because it would require all Vermont citizens registering to vote or updating their registration information to present documentary proof of citizenship in person at an election office.
The legislation purports to protect elections from non-citizens’ voting. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote. Violations can lead to fines, imprisonment, and deportation. According to the Brennan Center, during the 2016 election, only 30 incidents of suspected non-citizen voting were identified across a sample of 23.5 million votes in 42 jurisdictions — comprising 0.0001% of total votes cast.
The SAVE Act makes it harder for U.S. citizens to vote. More than 21 million Americans won’t have easy access to documents required by SAVE, including married women, rural and working-class voters, people of color, the military, elderly, disabled, inmates, tribal members, and survivors of natural disasters.
In the 2022 election cycle, only 5.9% of the 1,000,000 citizens who registered or updated their voter registration forms did so in person. The SAVE Act would eliminate many modes of voter registration most citizens rely on: registering by mail and online, through DMV, and at voter registration drives.
LWVVT calls on Vermont senators Sanders and Welch and the U.S. Senate to oppose the SAVE Act and protect the rights of American citizens to vote without undue obstacles.
Author is the President of the League of Women Voters of Vermont. The League of Women Voters of Vermont ( www.lwvofvt.org ) is a non-partisan organization working to protect voting rights and defend democracy.