The Trump-Backed Voting Bill Will Suppress the Native Vote |
The Trump-Backed Voting Bill Will Suppress the Native Vote
The controversial SAVE America Act would add new requirements that could make it harder for Indigenous voters to cast a ballot.
When Jaynie Parrish, the executive director and founder of Arizona Native Vote, saw the details of the Republican elections bill President Donald Trump has called his “number one priority,” her first thought was: “Here we go again.”
Parrish, who is Navajo, has seen firsthand how Native voters living on tribal lands already face significant challenges to voting access. She views this legislation, which would add proof of citizenship and photo ID requirements to participate in federal elections, as yet another roadblock for Native voters to overcome in order to exercise their voting rights.
“It’s going to make it more labor-intensive, more impossible, and it’s putting that much more burden on the voter to even get registered successfully, and then even to be counted,” said Parrish.
At Trump’s behest, the Senate this week is engaging in extended debate over the SAVE America Act, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives. The measure would require that Americans present proof of citizenship, such as a U.S. passport or a birth certificate, to cast a ballot. It would also require voters to present a photo ID, such as a driver’s license, at their polling location; for citizens in states with mail-in voting, this would entail sending photocopies of the necessary documents. The bill would mandate states submit their voter rolls to a federal database to identify noncitizen voters, even though the program has been riddled with errors.
Trump has threatened not to sign any other legislation until the SAVE America Act is passed, which may prove easier said than done. The debate is expected to take several days, but the measure currently does not have the votes to pass in the upper........