LWVUS joins a letter in opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act

LWVUS joined a letter to the House of Representatives in opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require citizenship documentation to cast a ballot, despite the fact that voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering to vote. 

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of national organizations committed to promoting and protecting the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States; the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of local, state, and national organizations working to strengthen U.S. democracy; and the undersigned 145 organizations, we write in strong opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

Congress has a pivotal constitutional responsibility to safeguard free and fair elections and to ensure all Americans have the freedom to vote. The SAVE Act represents a dangerous departure from fulfilling this vital duty. The bill’s requirement of documentary proof of American citizenship to register to vote in federal elections is wholly based on falsehoods and, even worse, seeks to promote fear-mongering and divisive rhetoric. Instead of proceeding with this legislation, Congress should take actions that will help voters and promote democracy such as passing legislation that will strengthen protections against discrimination in voting and expand access to the ballot for all communities.

The SAVE Act is both unnecessary and dangerous. Our electoral system already deploys processes to ensure that our elections are secure and that only eligible voters are participating in our democracy. Voters in every state are already required to affirm or verify their citizenship status when registering to vote. State election officials already have in place existing systems to verify an individual’s voter eligibility and ensure voter rolls are accurate.

Moreover, federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. Every single state bans noncitizens from voting in state elections. These protections have proven very effective, given that there is simply no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in elections. Indeed, it defies logic that non-U.S. citizens would risk their immigration status, the potential of criminal prosecution, future opportunity for naturalization, and freedom for themselves and their families by unlawfully committing an affirmative act to vote in an election in which they are prohibited from participating. The penalties for registering or voting as a non-U.S. citizen include imprisonment or deportation. The risks for any non-U.S. citizen to vote in a federal election are serious and steep, and our laws already effectively prevent significant unlawful voter registration and voting.

Introduction and advancement of this bill is the most recent example of what has been a string of recent efforts to make voter registration and voting more difficult, particularly for voters of color. False claims of non-citizen voting have been disingenuously used to enact more onerous voter identification requirements, limitations on voter assistance in languages other than English, and attempts to spread misinformation about voting. This legislation seeks to intimidate members of immigrant communities and communities of color from exercising their lawful right to vote. It also would make it harder for voters of color and naturalized citizens to register to vote and would prevent their full participation in democracy. These are already communities who are unfairly targeted by anti-immigrant policies at the federal, state, and local level. Congress should be doing everything possible to encourage and promote the political participation of these citizens, rather than seeking to diminish it through threats and fear tactics.

Legislation like the SAVE Act is intended to elicit irrational fear of the growing number of citizens of color. Congress should instead act to ensure that every eligible U.S. citizen has the freedom to vote unimpeded by discriminatory rules rooted in fear and division. We urge you to instead focus on passing real pro-voter reforms to ensure that everyone can fully participate in our democracy. If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Proll, senior director of the voting rights program at The Leadership Conference, at [email protected].

Sincerely,
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights