Will the SAVE Act suppress access to voting everywhere?Suzanne Barclay, Doria Hillsman and Gayle Struble |
What is the SAVE America Act and why are the Trump Administration and Republicans so intent on passing it? The SAVE Act would fundamentally change the voting process by requiring citizens to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote and to present a picture identification when they vote in a federal election. What’s behind this bill and is it really about voter fraud?
It’s not about voter fraud because, as it turns out, voter fraud isn’t a real problem, whether by immigrants or citizens. The Heritage Foundation has researched this issue extensively and has displayed its findings on an interactive map of the U.S. The database is comprehensive, covering elections over a 43-year period from 1982 to 2025. Clicking on a state displays the number of voter fraud cases for a given year. As an example, the map shows that there was a total of 113 cases in the state of Texas over that 43-year period and a total of 1,620 cases for all 50 states. That small number is surprising given how frequently voter fraud is raised but, check it out, it’s real: https://electionfraud.heritage.org/search
What will the SAVE act actually do?
If the SAVE Act won’t lessen voter fraud, what will it do? The SAVE Act will require millions of people to provide birth certificates or passports and, in the case of married women, marriage licenses, simply to register to vote. Then, all registered voters will need to show a photo identification when they show up at the polls. It could take months for some people to track down these documents or get certified copies. Overall, the proposed requirements of the SAVE Act will make the voting process more time consuming, complicated and expensive. These added steps will undoubtedly discourage Americans from registering and casting a ballot, thereby suppressing the vote throughout the country. This is a convoluted solution for a nonexistent problem.
In New York, the Board of Elections routinely checks citizenship when a person first registers to vote. Then at the poll, when the voter signs the electronic poll pad, he or she attests to their identity as that registered voter or risks prosecution. Every state has a system of checks and balances that explains why we are the envy of the world and why voter fraud is so rare.
For more than 100 years, the League of Women Voters, a non-partisan national organization with 800 local chapters, has advocated for free and secure elections. No one should be duped by the name or intent of the SAVE Act which simply creates more barriers to voting. The LWV urges the U.S. Senate to reject this bill.
Suzanne Barclay, Doria Hillsman and Gayle Struble are co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of Rockland County.