The S.A.V.E. Act Won’t Save Anything

By Marlene Reiss, Scottsdale North Field Director

It’s no secret that Democrats are woefully behind in terms of voter registration in Arizona. Our voter registration is actually decreasing while Republican voter registration is increasing. And, Republicans are putting up roadblocks at every turn to hinder our efforts to register voters.

So, what’s new in voter suppression efforts? Sigh. For one thing, the S.A.V.E. Act (ironically named the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act). A more appropriate title would be the Stop American Voter Eligibility Act. It amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. In a nutshell, the bill prohibits states from accepting/processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person. The Bill recently passed in the House with FOUR House Democrats joining every Republican: Jared Golden (Maine), Henry Cuellar (Tex.), Ed Case (Hawaii), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.)!!!!! Not surprisingly, the House Bill included our very own Quadfecta of Hamadeh, Gosar, Biggs, and Crane, as sponsors.

Arizona began requiring proof of citizenship to vote in 2004, but in 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that the additional documentation requirements violated the Voting Rights Act. So, in a workaround, AZ created a ‘federal-only list’ that permitted otherwise eligible voters who could not provide proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, but still could not vote in state elections!

Should it pass in the Senate (where 60 votes will be needed to overcome an expected Dem filibuster), all Americans will be required to provide, in person, a birth certificate, passport, or one of a few other citizenship documents every time they register or re-register to vote. According to survey data, a whopping 21 million American citizens don’t have these documents readily available and more than half don’t currently have a passport. And, even if most do have identifying documents handy, imagine how many are not able to provide their “papers” in person—those living abroad, military personnel, rural residents, the disabled. No more registration by mail, voter registration drives, online voter registration, automatic voter registration! As if these onerous proof of citizenship requirements aren’t bad enough, election workers could face up to five years in prison or civil lawsuits if they register someone without documents, even if that person is a citizen.

One could think, “Why worry? I’m already a registered voter.” Here’s the catch. If it becomes law, it will not just affect new registrations. It will apply to every “application to register to vote,” which in many jurisdictions includes re-registrations and changes of address. If you change your driver’s license address online, you might have to bring your passport or birth certificate to an election agency office to update your voter registration. And tens of millions of Americans register or re-register between every federal election. How about married women whose names don’t match their birth certificates (statistically around 83% of women)? Survey data estimates 69 million American women lack the required paperwork that reflects their current name. Trans people who’ve undergone a name change, as many as 3.3 million of whom are eligible voters. See where this is going? And survivors of natural disasters who’ve lost all identifying papers. For some inexplicable reason, Republicans think that these onerous requirements will only affect Dems!

It doesn’t take a deep dive to see the enormous impact it may have on voter rolls. Think “Justin Heap.” Heap is already fully on board with Trump’s Executive Order 14248 that gave birth to the S.A.V.E. Act. He’s in contact with Homeland Security to verify the citizenship status of registered voters (that’s us, folks!) who have not provided documentary proof of citizenship.

More reading: 

• Democracy Docket on the 52 bills in 24 states that intend to pass legislation to enact similar, if not identical, registration requirements.

• WAPO on AZ’s law and the problems it’s created. 

Stay tuned! Double sigh...

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