The Save Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act) is a bill that requires individuals to provide legal documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections. The Act was introduced by Texas Representative, Chip Roy. The bill prohibits states from accepting and processing any application of voting registration in federal elections unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. Each state is required to take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registering to vote and have a program to identify individuals who are not U.S. citizens using information that has been supplied by sources.
The SAVE Act requires states to remove any noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters. This allows the bill to establish criminal penalties for registering an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to provide documentation proof of U.S. citizenship. This bill introduces a requirement that individuals must provide either a U.S. passport, military ID, or government issued photo ID showing U.S. birthplace. This Act requires more time considering the significant changes to be made to each step of the voter registration process. It is also an unfunded mandate that has no financial offer to states for assistance with implementation costs.
If the Act becomes effective on the date of enactment, this will give states little time to adjust and leave them with a mere 10 days to offer implementation assistance with the help of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Wisconsin Chairman Bryan Steil advocates for the passing of the SAVE Act to prevent noncitizens from voting. However, Federal Law already prohibits noncitizens from voting and every state bans noncitizens from voting in state elections. This has been effective, simply because there has been no evidence of widespread non-citizens voting in elections. Why would non-U.S. citizens risk their immigration status by unlawfully committing an affirmative act to vote in an election in which they are prohibited from?
There have been false claims of non-citizens voting used to enact more inconvenience for voter identification requirements, limitations on language assistance other than English and leading misinformation about voting. Yet this would deprive U.S immigrants, naturalized citizens and communities of color from exercising their lawful right to vote since it would make it harder to vote and present their full participation in democracy.
Congress should act to ensure that every eligible U.S. citizen has the freedom to vote unrestricted by discriminatory rules that are rooted in fear and division. Florida has decided to cross reference with the DMV to take action in solidifying citizenship verification for voting and voter registration. While citizens are required to vote, there are more effective ways to ensure the voter rolls only include eligible Americans and place the burden of proof on the state and federal government.
