John,

As part of their continued attacks on both democracy and on immigrant communities, Republicans in Congress have re-introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act―a cynical and unnecessary attempt to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

The SAVE Act would require all Americans to prove their citizenship status by going in person and presenting documentation―such as passports or birth certificates―when they register to vote or update their voter registration.

This unjust and burdensome process would completely upend voter registration efforts in this country. It would end voter registration drives and completely eliminate online voter registration, which is something that 42 states rely on.¹ Under this legislation, tens of millions of Republican, Democratic, and independent voters could lose out on having their voices heard at the polls including the 140 million Americans who don’t have a passport and the 8 in 10 married women who changed their surname and don’t have a birth certificate that matches their current name.²

Tell Congress: Oppose the SAVE Act voter suppression bill today.

Anti-democracy members of Congress are doing everything they can to undermine our electoral system by making it harder for people to vote.

Proof-of-citizenship requirements disproportionately affect people of color, people with low incomes, and naturalized citizens, who may be wrongly removed from voter rolls due to outdated or incorrect data. More than 9% of American citizens of voting age don’t have easy access to the proof of citizenship required by the bill; that’s true of nearly 11% of people of color.³

This bill would make it significantly harder for many citizens to participate in our democracy, all under the guise of "election integrity." But really, it’s people with low incomes and communities of color who often lack the time and money to retrieve or replace documents like a birth certificate.

Careful studies of voting have repeatedly shown that instances of non-citizens trying to vote are extremely rare.⁴ So these restrictive rules aren’t about solving an actual problem; they’re about suppressing the votes of citizens with low incomes, disproportionately people of color.

We must stand against these blatant voter suppression tactics and Congress must reject the SAVE Act and protect the right to vote of every American. Congress should take actions that will help voters and promote democracy such as by strengthening protections against discrimination in voting and expanding access to the ballot for all communities to ensure that everyone can fully participate in our democracy.

Contact your members of Congress and tell them to reject this attempt to suppress millions of voters and reject the SAVE Act today.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Online registration by state
² The SAVE Act Would Disenfranchise Millions of Citizens
³ Millions of Americans Don’t Have Documents Proving Their Citizenship Readily Available
⁴ NPR: 6 facts about false noncitizen voting claims and the election